Accounting for Subjectivity in Experimental Research on Human Olfaction.

Olfaction exhibits large differences in perception between individuals, yet modern research has largely ignored its subjective dimension, mirroring a broader neglect of consciousness in experimental psychology. With renewed interest in the neural bases of consciousness, methods have been proposed to incorporate subjectivity into experimental protocols. This paper argues that adapting such methods to olfaction will enable rigorous collection of subjective reports and presents several ways to do so. This approach will improve understanding of diversity in odor perception and its underlying neural mechanisms.

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Abstract

Although olfaction is a modality with great interindividual perceptual disparities, its subjective dimension has been let aside in modern research, in line with the overall neglect of consciousness in experimental psychology. However, following the renewed interest for the neural bases of consciousness, some methodological leads have been proposed to include subjectivity in experimental protocols. Here, we argue that adapting such methods to the field of olfaction will allow to rigorously acquire subjective reports, and we present several ways to do so. This will improve the understanding of diversity in odor perception and its underlying neural mechanisms.