Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41224960›Full record

ArticleNature human behaviour2026

The human brain modulates sniffs according to fine-grained perceptual features of odours.

Vivek Sagar, Andrew Sheriff, Qiaohan Yang, Naelly Arriaga, Guangyu Zhou, Gregory Lane, Thorsten Kahnt, Christina Zelano

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature human behaviour, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Vivek SagarDepartment of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. viveksagar2016@u.northwestern.edu.ORCID 0000-0003-1301-2687
Andrew SheriffDepartment of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
Qiaohan YangDepartment of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9060-5825
Naelly ArriagaDepartment of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
Guangyu ZhouDepartment of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0897-6465
Gregory LaneDepartment of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
Thorsten KahntNational Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3575-2670
Christina ZelanoDepartment of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. c-zelano@northwestern.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-7917-4147

Funding

Neurocomputational mechanisms of learning and decision-making and their disruption in addiction ZIADA000642 · NIDA · NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE · PI KAHNT, THORSTEN · 2022 to 2025
$7.2M
TRAINING PROGRAM IN THE NEUROSCIENCE OF HUMAN COGNITIONT32NS047987 · NINDS · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI Rodrigo M Braga, Christina Maria Zelano · 2006 to 2026
$5.6M
Training Program in Neurobiology of Information StorageT32MH067564 · NIMH · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI Daniel A Dombeck · 2003 to 2026
$4.7M
Principles of olfactory reward processing in the human brainR01DC015426 · NIDCD · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI ZELANO, CHRISTINA MARIA · 2016 to 2025
$4.4M
Characterizing the primary olfactory subregions of the human amygdalaR01DC018539 · NIDCD · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI ZELANO, CHRISTINA MARIA · 2021 to 2025
$2.2M
Electrophysiological representations of odor in the human brainR01DC021663 · NIDCD · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI Christina Maria Zelano · 2024 to 2026
$2.0M
Intramural NIH HHS ZIA DA000642NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC015426NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC018539NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC021663NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH067564NINDS NIH HHS T32 NS047987U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) R01DC015426U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) R01DC018539
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sensorimotor feedback is a fundamental mechanism of active sensing. In olfaction, the primary motor behaviour is the sniff. Thus, in active olfactory sensing, we would expect the dynamics of the sniff to change according to detailed odour characteristics. Furthermore, percept-related modulations of sniffing behaviour should correspond to neural activity in participating brain regions. Here we analysed a high-precision functional MRI dataset including more than 4,300 sniffs per participant taken of 160 odours during ~18 hours of scanning, to probe the relationship between odour-induced sniff modulations and perceptual features at a high level of granularity. We found that fine-grained perceptual odour information-and even odour identity-can be decoded from sniffing dynamics, and that olfactory brain regions, particularly the amygdala, are involved in percept-driven modulation of sniffing behaviour. Thus, olfactory cortical areas participate in real-time modulations of sniffs according to perceptual properties of the odour at a high level of granularity.

Indexed as

AmygdalaBrainOdorantsOlfactory CortexOlfactory PerceptionSmellAdultBrain MappingFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID41224960
PMCPMC12646168

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.