2023-10-11 06:00:01
According to a recent study, our perception of colors can be influenced by our sense of smell. This phenomenon is due to a mechanism commonly used by our brain, the latter making “shortcuts” to quickly process an influx of information emanating from our five senses (SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) is a scientific project which aims …).
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The mechanism in question is called “cross-modal association” (“plurimodal perception” or “intermodal correspondence” in French). These are the correspondences that we can make unconsciously between several of our senses. Our brain uses this system to improve the speed and efficiency of processing the information it receives. For example, our brain encourages us to associate warm colors with high temperatures, or the taste (For the ability to judge beautiful things, see Taste (aesthetic)) of lemon (Lemon is a citrus fruit, fruit lemon tree. The lemon tree (Citrus limon) is a shrub of 5…) and the color (Color is the subjective perception that the eye has of one or more wave frequencies…) yellow (It There are (at least) five definitions of yellow which designate approximately the same…).
Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University have just discovered that such an association between our sight and our sense of smell can be powerful enough to bias our correct perception of colors.
To reach this conclusion, scientists carried out a test on a group of 24 adults aged 20 to 57, who were isolated in a room free of unwanted sensory stimuli. While a square of random color was displayed on a screen in front of them, different odors were released. in the room via an air purifier, such as caramel, coffee, lemon, cherry (Cherry is the edible fruit of the cherry tree. It is, following strawberries, the most…) or even peppermint (as well as water (Water is a ubiquitous chemical compound on Earth, essential for all. ..) odorless serving as a control). Participants then had to adjust the color of the square until it became gray, using two cursors, one varying the color from yellow to blue (Blue (from the old High German “blao” = bright) is one of the three colors…) and the other from green (Green is a complementary color corresponding to light which has a wavelength…) to red (The color red has different definitions , depending on the chromatic system we use…). This same exercise was carried out five times for each odor.
Previous research has demonstrated that cross-modal correspondences tend to associate certain odors with colors (lemon with yellow; cherry with pink, red and purple (purple is a color , composed of a mixture of blue (around 50% brightness) and red…); that of coffee with red and dark brown; that of caramel with yellow and dark brown, and that of peppermint with blue and green). The analysis of the data as part of this test demonstrated that not only were these associations proven, but that they might also bias the participants’ color perception!
Indeed, the latter tended to adjust the color sliders incorrectly depending on the odor presented to them. For example, when they smelled caramel, they perceived the color falsely “enriched with yellow.” Similarly, when they smelled coffee, they perceived the gray to be more of a red-brown color than a true neutral gray. Surprisingly, this “perceptual distortion” was not always uniform. The smell of peppermint was an exception, having absolutely not altered the correct perception of colors, which demonstrates that these intermodal associations can vary and are not universally applicable.
The result of this study sheds light on our understanding of sensory integration. The researchers want to continue their studies to find out precisely to what extent odors influence color perception. Questions still remain unanswered: Could this effect be observed with odors less frequently perceived? What regarding smells we encounter for the first time?
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#sense #smell #distort #colors
