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.
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