每個(gè)人的氣味喜惡偏好很大程度上由個(gè)人經(jīng)歷和文化決定,，不過(guò)法國(guó)研究人員最近發(fā)現(xiàn)，人和小鼠具有相似的嗅覺偏好,，并以此推論出嗅覺也在部分程度上是由氣味分子引起的生化反應(yīng)先天決定的。
法國(guó)科學(xué)研究中心的科研人員日前在美國(guó)《公共科學(xué)圖書館·綜合》（PLoS ONE）網(wǎng)絡(luò)期刊上發(fā)表了相關(guān)研究報(bào)告。報(bào)告說(shuō),，同樣的東西不同的人聞起來(lái)會(huì)有很大差別，比如法國(guó)人聞起來(lái)香氣誘人的卡芒貝爾干酪,，對(duì)于其他國(guó)家的人來(lái)說(shuō)可能就有一種怪味,。不過(guò)研究人員還認(rèn)為，嗅覺固然深受文化等因素的影響,，但也可能與客觀的物體氣味分子有關(guān)聯(lián),。
為了證明這一猜想，研究人員準(zhǔn)備了同樣氣味的物品,，讓人和小鼠逐一嗅聞,。參與實(shí)驗(yàn)的人被要求按照氣味喜好程度排列順序；對(duì)于實(shí)驗(yàn)小鼠,，科研人員則將它們?cè)诓煌锲非巴Ａ舻臅r(shí)間作為主要衡量標(biāo)準(zhǔn),。結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，人和小鼠對(duì)于氣味的偏好基本一致,，如都比較喜愛一種名為香葉醇的物質(zhì)的味道,，而對(duì)焦煳味則“敬而遠(yuǎn)之”。
研究人員由此認(rèn)為,，在部分程度上,，嗅覺偏好也是由客觀的物體氣味分子引起的生化反應(yīng)先天決定的。他們將繼續(xù)研究,，希望探明神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)與氣味偏好之間的關(guān)系,。
研究人員建議食品加工業(yè)等在研發(fā)新產(chǎn)品時(shí)將動(dòng)物的感覺也作為參考標(biāo)準(zhǔn)之一。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
PLoS ONE,，doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004209,，Nathalie Mandairon，Anne Didier
Humans and Mice Express Similar Olfactory Preferences
Nathalie Mandairon*, Johan Poncelet, Moustafa Bensafi#, Anne Didier#
Université Lyon 1, CNRS, UMR5020, Neurosciences Sensorielles, Comportement, Cognition, Lyon, France
Abstract
In humans, the pleasantness of odors is a major contributor to social relationships and food intake. Smells evoke attraction and repulsion responses, reflecting the hedonic value of the odorant. While olfactory preferences are known to be strongly modulated by experience and learning, it has been recently suggested that, in humans, the pleasantness of odors may be partly explained by the physicochemical properties of the odorant molecules themselves. If odor hedonic value is indeed predetermined by odorant structure, then it could be hypothesized that other species will show similar odor preferences to humans. Combining behavioral and psychophysical approaches, we here show that odorants rated as pleasant by humans were also those which, behaviorally, mice investigated longer and human subjects sniffed longer, thereby revealing for the first time a component of olfactory hedonic perception conserved across species. Consistent with this, we further show that odor pleasantness rating in humans and investigation time in mice were both correlated with the physicochemical properties of the molecules, suggesting that olfactory preferences are indeed partly engraved in the physicochemical structure of the odorant. That odor preferences are shared between mammal species and are guided by physicochemical features of odorant stimuli strengthens the view that odor preference is partially predetermined. These findings open up new perspectives for the study of the neural mechanisms of hedonic perception.
