ABSTRACT

Response inhibition is sensitive to unexpected changes in the environment triggered by emotional stimuli. Whereas the impact of visual material on inhibition has been widely documented, the attention on the influence of olfactory stimuli has been neglected. Here, we examined the effect of pleasant (orange), unpleasant (trimethyloxazole), and control (clean air) odour primes in a stop-signal task. Twenty-five participants had to elicit or inhibit reach-to-press actions which allowed to examine the olfactory influences on both the planning (release phase) and the on-line control (reaching phase) of responses. Additionally, we manipulated the distance between the initial hand position and the target to be pressed (10 vs. 20 vs. 30 cm). The pleasant (vs. control) odour impaired inhibition, as reflected in slower stop-signal reaction times and higher release errors, indicating greater mobilisation of inhibitory resources by pleasant stimuli. Further, faster release responses were triggered by pleasant and unpleasant primes, supporting the idea of perceptual prioritisation of emotional (vs. non-emotional) stimuli. The olfactory manipulation did not affect the reaching phase of the responses. Instead, the distance manipulation modulated the reaching but not the release phase. These results extend the sparse literature on the influences of odour stimuli on response inhibition.

摘要

反应抑制对情绪刺激引发的环境意外变化很敏感。虽然视觉材料对抑制的影响已被广泛记录，但对嗅觉刺激影响的关注却被忽视了。在这里，我们检查了令人愉快（橙色）、令人不愉快（三甲基恶唑）和控制（清洁空气）气味素在停止信号任务中的影响。25 名参与者必须引发或禁止触及到新闻行动，这允许检查嗅觉对计划（发布阶段）和在线控制（到达阶段）响应的影响。此外，我们操纵了初始手部位置与要按压的目标之间的距离（10 对 20 对 30 厘米）。令人愉快的（与对照相比）气味削弱了抑制作用，正如较慢的停止信号反应时间和较高的释放误差所反映的那样，表明令人愉快的刺激可以更好地调动抑制性资源。此外，愉快和不愉快的素数会触发更快的释放反应，支持情绪（与非情绪）刺激的感知优先级的想法。嗅觉操作不影响反应的到达阶段。相反，距离操纵调节了到达而不是释放阶段。这些结果扩展了关于气味刺激对反应抑制的影响的稀疏文献。嗅觉操作不影响反应的到达阶段。相反，距离操纵调节了到达而不是释放阶段。这些结果扩展了关于气味刺激对反应抑制的影响的稀疏文献。嗅觉操作不影响反应的到达阶段。相反，距离操纵调节了到达而不是释放阶段。这些结果扩展了关于气味刺激对反应抑制的影响的稀疏文献。