Olfactory perception and reactivity in individuals with anxious and obsessive-compulsive behavioural traits (22-31662S)
Basic information
Investigator: Mgr. Lenka Martinec Nováková, Ph.D.
Main recipient: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Research period: 1/1/2022 - 31/12/2024
Total budget: 7,280,000 CZK
Supported by: Czech Science Foundation (GAČR)
Annotation
Obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms, whose severity varies along a continuum with the obsessive-compulsive disorder being an extreme, are common in the general population. A prominent OC symptom is altered olfaction, which may have implications for the occurrence of disgust experiences that impact well-being and quality of life. The exact nature of alterations in olfaction is however not clear, as is their relationship with disgust and trait anxiety, which tend to co-occur with OC symptoms and, specifically, OC behavioural traits. Odour awareness/reactivity, which may overlap with odour irritability and could be implicated in disturbing disgust experiences to a greater degree than actual olfactory performance, has not yet been studied in people varying in OC symptom severity. The aim is to utilise psychological, psychophysical, psychophysiological, and neuroimaging methods to describe the ways in which olfaction relates to disgust experiences and, ultimately, quality of life in people with varying levels of OC symptoms and behavioural traits, controlling for concurrent trait anxiety.