In the architectural environment of nursing homes ‘ageing-related body odour’ has become a prominent olfactory issue. Accurately characterizing its effects on individuals is crucial for mitigating negative emotions amongst family members and caregivers, as well as advancing research on odour environment optimization in nursing homes. This study conducted simulated ageing-related body odour release experiments, finding that: (1) A significant negative correlation was observed between the concentration of ageing-related body odour and both comfort level (τ = –0.689) and emotional evaluation (τ = –0.67), indicating that ageing-related body odour induced notable negative emotional effects. (2) EEG data revealed that ageing-related body odour elicited significant changes in α and θ-waves in the pre-frontal (FC5) and temporal (T7) regions (P < .01). Young people exhibited stronger neural responses, suggesting that the elderly were more familiar with and adapted to this unpleasant odour. (3) Spatial perception was negatively affected across comfort (τ = −0.588), mobility (τ = −0.555) and other dimensions, with young people experiencing greater disruption. Young people’ perceptual strategies relied more on the integration of subjective perception and objective attributes (α wave correlation with spatial indicators: τ = 0.113–0.118), whereas the elderly depended more on objective properties.
MoazamiTSterudT. The combined effect of indoor climate and psychosocial stressors on subsequent headaches: a prospective study of the general working population in Norway. Indoor Built Environ2025; 34: 355–366.
2.
ZhuHHuSYuC.Cognitive performance in a warming planet. Indoor Built Environ2022; 31: 2195–2198. Editorial Material.
3.
DuXZhaoSZhangDYuY.Comparative analysis of light environment perception, eye movement and physiology in university professional classroom based on virtual reality experiment. Indoor Built Environ2023; 32: 1152–1169. DOI: 10.1177/1420326 × 231153922.
4.
KimSGopalSLChoY.Influence of multimodal integration on spatial perception. In:Proceedings of 9th International Conference on Kansei Engineering and Emotion Research KEER2022. Barcelona, 5–8 September 2022Kansei Engineering and Emotion Research (KEER), pp.387–396.
5.
KantI.Kritik der reinen vernunft: werke: kants werke. Akademie textausgabe, bd.3: kritik der reinen vernunft De Gruyter, 1968.
6.
MataTMFelgueirasFMartinsAAMonteiroHFerrazMPOliveiraGMGabrielMFSilvaGV. Indoor air quality in elderly centers: pollutants emission and health effects. Environments2022; 9: 86.
7.
TanakaNMunakaT. Influence of human behavior on indoor air quality in a care facility for the elderly in Japan. Asian J Atmosp Environ2021; 15: 10.5572/ajae.2021.089
8.
ZongHTianLCaoZLuoM. Exposure of elderly people to indoor air pollutants in Wanxia nursing home. Buildings-Basel2023; 13: 19.
9.
HazeSGozuYNakamuraSKohnoYSawanoKOhtaHYamazakiK. 2-Nonenal Newly found in human body odor tends to increase with aging. J Invest Dermatol2001; 116: 520–524.
10.
PandeySKKimK-H.Human body-odor components and their determination. TrAC, Trends Anal Chem2011; 30: 784–796. Review.
11.
YamazakiSHoshinoKKusuharaM. Odor associated with aging. Anti-aging Med,Anti-Aging Med2010; 7: 60–65.
12.
NakanishiSMakitaMDendaM. Effects of trans-2-nonenal and olfactory masking odorants on proliferation of human keratinocytes. Biochem Biophys Res Commun2021; 548: 1–6.
13.
MitroSGordonAROlssonMJLundströmJN. The smell of age: perception and discrimination of body odors of different ages. PLoS One2012; 7: e38110.
14.
ApiAMBelsitoDBotelhoDBruzeMBurtonGABuschmannJCancellieriMADagliMLDateMDekantWDeodharCFryerADJonesLJoshiKKumarMLapczynskiALavelleMLeeILieblerDCMoustakasHNaMPenningTMRitaccoGRomineJSadekarNSchultzTWSelechnikDSiddiqiFSipesIGSullivanGThakkarYTokuraY. RIFM fragrance ingredient safety assessment, trans-2-nonenal, CAS Registry Number 18829-56-6. Food Chem Toxicol2022; 161: 1–11.
15.
McdermottJBloomerKCMooreCW. Body, Memory, and Architecture (Yale paperbound). New Haven, USA: Yale University Press, 1978.
16.
KrausMSenitkovaIJ. A study of perceived air quality and odours. IOP Conf Ser: Mater Sci Eng2019; 471: 92004.
17.
DelplanqueSGrandjeanDChreaCCoppinGAymardLCayeuxIMargotCVelazcoMISanderDSchererKR. Sequential unfolding of novelty and pleasantness appraisals of odors: evidence from facial electromyography and autonomic reactions. Emotion2009; 9: 316–328.
18.
ChoiNYamanakaTTakemuraAKobayashiTEtoAHiranoM. Impact of indoor aroma on students’ mood and learning performance. Build Environ2022; 223: 13.
19.
MaY. The influence of ambient aroma on middle school students’ academic emotions. Int J Psychol : J Int De Psychol2022; 57: 387–392.
20.
SpenceC. Using ambient scent to enhance well-being in the multisensory built environment. Front Psychol2020; 11: 598859.
21.
HaehnerAMaassHCroyIHummelT. Influence of room fragrance on attention, anxiety and mood. Flavour Frag J2017; 32: 24–28.
22.
TreccaEFortunatoFGelardiMPetronePCassanoM. Development of a questionnaire to investigate socio-cultural differences in the perception of smell, taste and flavour. Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital2021; 41: 336–347.
23.
RuzeviciuteRKamleitnerBEstesZBiswasD. Sniffing the distance: scents can make objects appear closer. J Environ Psychol2023; 91: 9.
24.
XiaoJTaitMKangJ. Understanding smellscapes: sense-making of smell-triggered emotions in place. Emot Space Soc2020; 37: 9.
25.
HamburgerKKnauffM. Odors can serve as landmarks in human wayfinding. Cogn Sci2019; 43: 15.
26.
GaoYWangCHuangMGuoW. A new perspective of sustainable perception: research on the smellscape of urban block space. Sustainability2022; 14: 17.
27.
InvittoSGrassoA.Chemosensory perception: a review on electrophysiological methods in “cognitive neuro-olfactometry”. Chemosensors2019; 7: 13. Review.
28.
BraverTBarchDKelleyWBucknerRCohenNMiezinFSnyderAOllingerJAkbudakEConturoTPetersenS. Direct comparison of prefrontal cortex regions engaged by working and long-term memory tasks. Neuroimage2001; 14: 48–59.
29.
RollsEDecoGHuangCFengJ. The human orbitofrontal cortex, vmPFC, and anterior cingulate cortex effective connectome: emotion, memory, and action. Cereb Cortex2022; 33: 330–356.
30.
AlexanderLWoodCRobertsA.The ventromedial prefrontal cortex and emotion regulation: lost in translation?J Physiol-London2023; 601: 37–50. Review.
31.
AdolphsRTranelDDamasioH. Emotion recognition from faces and prosody following temporal lobectomy. Neuropsychology2001; 15: 396–404.
32.
HouHHanRZhangXMengQ. Pleasantness recognition induced by different odor concentrations using olfactory electroencephalogram signals. Sensors2022; 22: 13.
33.
EzzatdoostKHojjatiHAghajanH. Decoding olfactory stimuli in EEG data using nonlinear features: a pilot study. J Neurosci Meth2020; 341: 10.
34.
RaheelAMajidMAnwarS. A study on the effects of traditional and olfaction enhanced multimedia on pleasantness classification based on brain activity analysis. Comput Biol Med2019; 114: 11.
35.
GuoYXiaXShiYYingYMenH. Olfactory EEG induced by odor: used for food identification and pleasure analysis. Food Chem2024; 455: 10.
36.
HoMWSerWSieowFLLwinMOKwokKFK.A study of EEG signals modeling for different scent intensity levels. In:Proceedings of International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering(NER). held at theSheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina, CA, 6–8 Nov. 2013, pp.1445–1448.
37.
HaradaHEuraYShiraishiKKatoTSodaT. Coherence analysis of EEG changes during olfactory stimulation. Clinical Eeg1998; 29: 96.
38.
MorangesMPlantevitMBensafiM. Using subgroup discovery to relate odor pleasantness and intensity to peripheral nervous system reactions. IEEE Trans Affect Comput2023; 14: 2005–2019.
39.
BensafiMRoubyCFargetVBertrandBVigourouxMHolleyA. Autonomic nervous system responses to odours: the role of pleasantness and arousal. Chem Senses2002; 27: 703–709.
40.
KimMSowndhararajanKChoiHParkSKimS. Olfactory stimulation effect of aldehydes, nonanal, and decanal on the human Electroencephalographic Activity, According to nostril variation. Biomedicines2019; 7: 12.
41.
SahaAKonarARakshitPRalescuALNagarAK. Olfaction recognition by EEG analysis using differential evolution induced Hopfield neural net. In: Proceedings of The 2013 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN). held at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, Texas, 4–9 Aug. 2013, pp.1–8.
42.
ChreaCGrandjeanDDelplanqueSCayeuxICalvéLeAymardBVelazcoLSanderMSchererDKMapping the semantic space for the subjective experience of emotional responses to odors. Chem Senses2009; 34: 49–62.
43.
LiuYToetAKroneTvan StokkumREijsmanSvan ErpJ. A network model of affective odor perception. Plos One2020; 15: 28.
44.
ChaichanasittikarnOJiangMSeetMSabaMHamanoJDragomirA.Wearable EEG-based classification of odor-induced emotion. In: Proceedings of 2023 11th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering (NER). Baltimore, MD, USA, The Neural Engineering, 25–27 Apr 2023, pp.1–4.
45.
MasoodNFarooqH. Investigating EEG patterns for dual-stimuli induced human fear emotional state. Sensors2019; 19: 22.
46.
ZouZErganS. Towards emotionally intelligent buildings: a convolutional neural network based approach to classify human emotional experience in virtual built environments. Adv Eng Inform2023; 55: 13.
47.
GuidoLFCarneiroJRSantosJRAlmeidaPJRodriguesJABarrosAA. Simultaneous determination of E-2-nonenal and beta-damascenone in beer by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with UV detection. J Chromatogr, A2004; 1032: 17–22.
HawkoCVerrieleMHucherNCrunaireSLegerCLocogeNSavaryG.A review of environmental odor quantification and qualification methods: the question of objectivity in sensory analysis. Sci Total Environ2021; 795: 24. Review.
50.
WatsonDClarkLATellegenA. Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. J Pers Soc Psychol1988; 54: 1063–1070.
51.
LubinBVan WhitlockR. The alternate forms of the positive and negative mood scales: reliability, validity, and equivalence in nonreferred samples. Assessment1996; 3: 375–386.
52.
LaktionovaTKvashaIVoznessenskayaV. Male body odor affects emotional state, LH, and cortisol secretion in women of different age groups. Brain Sci2024; 14: 13.
53.
IijimaAItohTWuHYGrossmannN.Visualization of semantic differential studies with a large number of images, participants and attributes. In: Proceedings of 2020 24th International Conference Information Visualisation (IV). Melbourne, Australia, 07–11 September 2020, pp.1–8.
54.
HouKLiuXLiuSLiuCWangHYuCYuTYangZ. Research on optimization design of corridor entry space of elderly facilities based on visual-perceptual and electroencephalogram feedback mechanisms. Buildings-Basel2024; 14: 23.
55.
KontarisIEastBWilsonD.Behavioral and neurobiological convergence of odor, mood and emotion: a review. Front Behav Neurosci2020; 14: 35. Review.
56.
ChaouachiMJraidiIFrassonC.Adapting to Learners’ Mental States Using a Physiological Computing Approach. 2015.
57.
WangJSunXYangQX. Early aging effect on the function of the human central olfactory system. Journals of Gerontology2017; 72: 1007–1014.
58.
FaulFErdfelderEBuchnerALangAG. Statistical power analyses using G*power 3.1: tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behav Res Methods2009; 41: 1149–1160.
59.
YamamotoKYokomitsuKKobayashiT. Development of the function of autobiographical memories evoked by odor scale for older Japanese people. Front Psychol2022; 13: 10.
60.
ChowTFongKGivoniBLinZChanA. Thermal sensation of Hong Kong people with increased air speed, temperature and humidity in air-conditioned environment. Build Environ2010; 45: 2177–2183.
61.
MartinJDMRomainAC. Experimental evaluation of gas sensors array for the identification of Complex VOC mixtures in human breath. CET J - Chem Eng Trans2021; 85: 199–204.
62.
SalthammerTSchulzNStolteRUhdeE. Human sensory response to acetone/air mixtures. Indoor Air2016; 26: 796–805.
63.
ChappuisCHuberRNiclassYStarkenmannC. Simulating latrine conditions to assess perfume performance against malodour. Flavour Frag J2018; 33: 313–321.
64.
ReinikainenLMJaakkolaJJK. Significance of humidity and temperature on skin and upper airway symptoms. Indoor Air2004; 13: 344–352.
65.
ZuoCLuoLLiuW. Effects of increased humidity on physiological responses, thermal comfort, perceived air quality, and sick building syndrome symptoms at elevated indoor temperatures for subjects in a hot-humid climate. Indoor Air2021; 31: 524–540.
66.
FangLClausenGFangerPO. Impact of temperature and humidity on the perception of indoor air quality. Indoor Air1998; 8: 80–90.
67.
TeoY.Investigation of Air Flow in Chamber Using Air-Conditioning Unit for Thermal Comfort. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Melaka, May 2009.
68.
ZhangXLuoGXieJLiuJ. Associations of bedroom air temperature and CO2 concentration with subjective perceptions and sleep quality during transition seasons. Indoor Air2021; 31: 1004–1017.
69.
HummelTSekingerBWolfSRPauliEKobalG. Sniffin’ sticks’: olfactory performance assessed by the combined testing of odor identification, odor discrimination and olfactory threshold. Chem Senses1997; 22: 39–52.
70.
LegendreP. Species associations: the kendall coefficient of concordance revisited. J Agric Biol Environ Stat2005; 10: 226–245.
71.
PereiraDGAfonsoAMedeirosFM. Overview of Friedman's test and post-hoc analysis. Commun Stat - Simul Comput2015; 44: 2636–2653.
72.
XueJWangJHuSBiNLvZ. OVPD: odor-video elicited physiological signal database for emotion recognition. IEEE Trans Instrum Meas2022; 71: 12.
73.
SahaAKonarAChatterjeeARalescuANagarA. EEG Analysis for olfactory perceptual-ability measurement using a recurrent neural classifier. IEEE T Hum-Mach Syst2014; 44: 717–730.
74.
SpenceC.Senses of place: architectural design for the multisensory mind. Cogn Res2020; 5: 26. Review.
75.
IshinoKWakitaCShibataTToyokuniSMachidaSMatsudaSMatsudaTUchidaK. Lipid peroxidation generates body odor component trans-2-nonenal covalently bound to protein in vivo. J Biol Chem2010; 285: 15302–15313.
76.
Sato-AkuharaNTrimmerCKellerANiimuraYShirasuMMainlandJTouharaK. Genetic variation in the human olfactory receptor OR5AN1 associates with the perception of musks. Chem Senses2023; 48: 9.
77.
MaylorECarterSHallettE. Preserved olfactory cuing of autobiographical memories in old age. J Gerontol Ser B-Psychol Sci Soc Sci2002; 57: 41–46.
78.
WangJEslingerPSmithMYangQ. Functional magnetic resonance imaging study of human olfaction and normal aging. J Gerontol Ser A-Biol Sci Med Sci2005; 60: 510–514.
79.
SabiniewiczABrandenburgMHummelT. Odor threshold differs for some but not all odorants between older and younger adults. J Gerontol, Ser B: Psychol Sci Soc Sci2023; 78: 11.
80.
VieillardSRonatLBaccaraniASchaalBBaudouinJBrochardR. Age differences in olfactory affective responses: evidence for a positivity effect and an emotional dedifferentiation. Aging Neuropsychol Cogn2021; 28: 570–583.
81.
BergerNRichardsADavelaarE. When emotions matter : focusing on emotion improves working memory updating in older adults. Front Psychol2017; 8: 13.
82.
WestSEDotyRL. Influence of epilepsy and temporal lobe resection on olfactory function. Epilepsia1995; 36: 531–542.
83.
ZhangCWangX. Association of exercise with better olfactory performance and higher functional connectivity between the olfactory Cortex and the prefrontal Cortex: a resting-state functional near-infrared spectroscopy study. Brain Connect2024; 14: 500–510.
84.
AttemsJWalkerLJellingerK.Olfaction and aging: a mini-review. Gerontology2015; 61: 485–490. Review.
85.
RenHZhengZZhangJWangQWangY.Electroencephalography (EEG)-based comfort evaluation of free-form and regular-form landscapes in virtual reality. Appl Sci-Basel2024; 14: 22.
86.
ZengLGuoMWuRLuoYWeiP. The effects of electroencephalogram feature-based transcranial alternating current stimulation on working memory and electrophysiology. Front Aging Neurosci2022; 14: 18.
87.
WangYShangguanCGuCHuB. Individual differences in negative emotion differentiation predict resting-state spontaneous emotional regulatory processes. Front Psychol2020; 11: 10.
88.
HaoCXieTPengYLiMLuoWMaN. Effect of homeostatic pressure on daytime vigilance performance: evidence from behaviour and resting-state EEG. J Sleep Res2023; 32: 11.
89.
SammlerDGrigutschMFritzTKoelschS.Music and emotion: electrophysiological correlates of the processing of pleasant and unpleasant music. Psychophysiology2007; 44: 293–304.
90.
KangJH. A study on the electrophysiological response of the cerebral Cortex by olfactory stimulation: alpha activity. Korean J Clin Lab Sci2019; 51: 462–467.
91.
HeinbockelHQuaedfliegCSchneiderTEngelASchwabeL. Stress enhances emotional memory-related theta oscillations in the medial temporal lobe. Neurobiol Stress2021; 15: 12.
92.
AfghanRHeysieattalabSZangbarHSEbrahimi-KalanAJafari-KoshkiTSamadzadehaghdamN. Lavender essential oil inhalation improves attentional shifting and accuracy: evidence from dynamic changes of cognitive flexibility and power spectral density of electroencephalogram signals. J Med Signals Sens2024; 14: 12.
93.
LarssonMÖbergCBackmanL. Recollective experience in odor recognition: influences of adult age and familiarity. Psychol Res-Psychol Forsch2006; 70: 68–75.
94.
LaurinASOuerfelli-EthierJPisellaLKhanAZ. Reduced spatial attentional distribution in older adults. J Vis2024; 24: 20.
95.
JabèsAKlencklenGRuggeriPAntoniettiJLavenexPLavenexP. Age-related differences in resting-state EEG and allocentric spatial working memory performance. Front Aging Neurosci2021; 13: 19.
