Join us in an intriguing discussion with Dr. Arshamian, who challenges traditional notions about how our cultural background influences our perception of smells. While the role of culture in determining our sensory experiences has long been acknowledged, Dr. Arshamian's research suggests a minimal impact of culture on the perception of odor pleasantness.

His fascinating study, involving 225 individuals from 9 diverse non-western cultures, found that culture accounted for only 6% of the variance in pleasantness rankings of smells, with individual variability or personal taste explaining a substantial 54%. The findings reveal a significant degree of global consistency, with the identity of the molecules making up the smells explaining 41% of the variance in odor pleasantness rankings.

Dr. Arshamian's research also demonstrates that these universal rankings could be predicted by the physicochemical properties of new molecules and pleasantness ratings given by a tenth group of western urban participants. This research provides a new perspective on olfactory perception and suggests that it is primarily governed by universal principles. Tune in to learn more about these findings and their implications for understanding our sensory experiences.

Keywords: Dr. Arshamian, Olfactory Perception, Odor Pleasantness, Culture, Sensory Experience, Physicochemical Properties, Personal Taste, Universal Principles.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.02.062 The perception of odor pleasantness is shared across cultures