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Long-term memory for odors: Influences of familiarity and identification across 64 days

Kärnekull, Stina ; Ekman, Gösta ; Jönsson, Fredrik ; Willander, Johan ; Sikström, Sverker LU orcid and Larsson, Maria (2015) In Chemical Senses 40(4). p.259-267
Abstract
Abstract in Undetermined
Few studies have investigated long-term odor recognition memory, although some early observations suggested that the forgetting rate of olfactory representations is slower than for other sensory modalities. This study investigated recognition memory across 64 days for high and low familiar odors and faces. Memory was assessed in 83 young participants at 4 occasions; immediate, 4, 16, and 64 days after encoding. The results indicated significant forgetting for odors and faces across the 64 days. The forgetting functions for the 2 modalities were not fundamentally different. Moreover, high familiar odors and faces were better remembered than low familiar ones, indicating an important role of semantic knowledge on... (More)
Abstract in Undetermined
Few studies have investigated long-term odor recognition memory, although some early observations suggested that the forgetting rate of olfactory representations is slower than for other sensory modalities. This study investigated recognition memory across 64 days for high and low familiar odors and faces. Memory was assessed in 83 young participants at 4 occasions; immediate, 4, 16, and 64 days after encoding. The results indicated significant forgetting for odors and faces across the 64 days. The forgetting functions for the 2 modalities were not fundamentally different. Moreover, high familiar odors and faces were better remembered than low familiar ones, indicating an important role of semantic knowledge on recognition proficiency for both modalities. Although odor recognition was significantly better than chance at the 64 days testing, memory for the low familiar odors was relatively poor. Also, the results indicated that odor identification consistency across sessions, irrespective of accuracy, was positively related to successful recognition. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
face recognition, identification consistency, odor recognition, olfactory forgetting
in
Chemical Senses
volume
40
issue
4
pages
259 - 267
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • pmid:25740304
  • wos:000355703500006
  • scopus:84929393529
  • pmid:25740304
ISSN
1464-3553
DOI
10.1093/chemse/bjv003
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6c61e422-e3dd-4ad4-acac-ba5c176b24cd (old id 4905044)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:19:28
date last changed
2022-02-17 17:00:26
@article{6c61e422-e3dd-4ad4-acac-ba5c176b24cd,
  abstract     = {{Abstract in Undetermined<br/>Few studies have investigated long-term odor recognition memory, although some early observations suggested that the forgetting rate of olfactory representations is slower than for other sensory modalities. This study investigated recognition memory across 64 days for high and low familiar odors and faces. Memory was assessed in 83 young participants at 4 occasions; immediate, 4, 16, and 64 days after encoding. The results indicated significant forgetting for odors and faces across the 64 days. The forgetting functions for the 2 modalities were not fundamentally different. Moreover, high familiar odors and faces were better remembered than low familiar ones, indicating an important role of semantic knowledge on recognition proficiency for both modalities. Although odor recognition was significantly better than chance at the 64 days testing, memory for the low familiar odors was relatively poor. Also, the results indicated that odor identification consistency across sessions, irrespective of accuracy, was positively related to successful recognition.}},
  author       = {{Kärnekull, Stina and Ekman, Gösta and Jönsson, Fredrik and Willander, Johan and Sikström, Sverker and Larsson, Maria}},
  issn         = {{1464-3553}},
  keywords     = {{face recognition; identification consistency; odor recognition; olfactory forgetting}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{259--267}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Chemical Senses}},
  title        = {{Long-term memory for odors: Influences of familiarity and identification across 64 days}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjv003}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/chemse/bjv003}},
  volume       = {{40}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}