title: Cross-modal interactions between olfaction and vision when grasping.
abstract: This study used kinematics to investigate the integration between vision and olfaction during grasping movements. Participants were requested to smell an odorant and then grasp an object presented in central vision. The results indicate that if the target was small (e.g., a strawberry), the time and amplitude of maximum hand aperture were later and greater, respectively, when the odor evoked a larger object (e.g., an orange) than when the odor evoked an object of a similar size as the target or no odor was presented. Conversely, the time and amplitude of maximum hand aperture were earlier and reduced, respectively, when the target was large (e.g., a peach) and the odor evoked a smaller sized object (e.g., an almond) than when the odor evoked an object of a similar size as the target or no odor was presented. Taken together, these results support the evidence of cross-modal links between olfaction and vision and extend this notion to goal-directed actions.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padua, Italy. umberto.castiello@unipd.it
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Castiello
authors.forename: Gesualdo M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Zucco
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Parma
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ansuini
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tirindelli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000379:methods; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*; D013268:Stimulation, Chemical; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*