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Background. We have observed changes in body reactions during cooking, which is one of the treatment modalities used in occupational therapy. The perception of food-related odors during cooking may have behavioral effects on human activities through the activation of appetitive motivation. Objectives. We investigated whether odor components contained in seasonings could facilitate the human motor system and the specificity of this effect. Methods. The subjects were 72 healthy adults, randomly assigned to a water exposure group, a phenylethyl alcohol (PEA, pleasant rose-like odor) exposure group, and a Japanese soy sauce (Koikuchi Shoyu) exposure group (n=24 each). The subjects' olfactory sense was stimulated by their sniffing of three different test tubes containing 5 ml of water, PEA, or Japanese soy sauce for 20 sec while they were seated. The modified Functional Reach Test (mFRT), which mimics a functional activity that is required in daily living and assesses a reliable measure of sitting balance, was performed prior to and immediately after the sniffing. Results. Sniffing the soy sauce increased the subjects' mFRT scores. This facilitation effect was odorant-specific and was absent when the subjects were presented with water or PEA. Conclusions. Cooking interventions are aimed at improving tool-handling skills such as using knives and chopsticks. The results indicate that treatment interventions using odors of seasonings would be effective for improving subjects' physical functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract When female mice are mated, they form a memory to the pheromonal signal of their male partner. The neural changes underlying this memory occur in the accessory olfactory bulb, depend upon vaginocervical stimulation at mating and involve changes at the reciprocal synapses between mitral and granule cells. However, the action of vaginocervical stimulation on the reciprocal interactions between mitral and granule cells remains to be elucidated. We have examined the effects of vaginocervical stimulation on paired-pulse depression of amygdala-evoked field potentials recorded in the external plexiform layer of the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) and the single-unit activity of mitral cells antidromically stimulated from the amygdala in urethane-anaesthetized female mice. Artificial vaginocervical stimulation reduced paired-pulse depression (considered to be due to feedback inhibition of the mitral cell dendrites from the granule cells via reciprocal dendrodendritic synapses) recorded in the AOB external plexiform layer. As would be expected from this result, vaginocervical stimulation also enhanced the spontaneous activity of a proportion of the mitral cells tested. These results suggest that vaginocervical stimulation reduces dendrodendritic feedback inhibition to mitral cells and enhances their activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]