Smell illusions and suggestion: reports of smells contingent on tones played on television and radio

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Abstract
About 46% of human subjects are specifically anosmic to the odor of 5α-androst-16-en-3- one, and about 9% are specifically anosmic to the odor of ω-pentadecalactone. Odor threshold measurements on 33 representative steroids, synthetic musks and related compounds were made with panels of normal observers and each of these varieties of specific anosmics. The androstenone anosmia was most pronounced with steroid ketones in the androstane series and some isosteric analogs. It is suggested that this specific anosmia corresponds with the absence of a recently-suspected olfactory primary, the ‘urinous’ odor. The pentadecalactone anosmia was associated with a number of diverse but approximately isosteric synthetic musks. This specific anosmia delineates more clearly the boundaries of the ‘musky’ odor, whose probably primacy has long been recognized. Threshold measurements were made on mixtures of androst-16-en-3-one and pentadecalactone. The results depart little from the ‘rule of additivity’ for odor ratios up to 100:1, and suggest a quantitative interpretation for the anosmic defects measured with single compounds.

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