• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.96-103
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• 2022

Purpose: The survival of organisms critically depends on avoidance responses to life-threatening stimuli. Information about dangerous situations needs to be remembered to produce defensive behavior. To investigate underlying brain regions to process information of danger, manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) was used in olfactory fear-conditioned rats. Materials and Methods: Fear conditioning was conducted in male Sprague-Dawley rats. The animals received nasal injections of manganese chloride solution to monitor brain activation for olfactory information processing. Twenty-four hours after manganese injection, rats were exposed to electric foot shocks with odor cue for one hour. Control rats were exposed to the same odor cue without foot shocks. Forty-eight hours after the conditioning, rats were anesthetized and their brains were scanned with 9.4T MRI. Acquired images were processed and statistical analyses were performed using AFNI. Results: Manganese injection enhanced brain areas involved in olfactory information pathways in T1 weighted images. Rats that received foot shocks showed higher brain activation in the central nucleus of the amygdala, septum, primary motor cortex, and preoptic area. In contrast, control rats displayed greater signals in the orbital cortex and nucleus accumbens. Conclusion: Nasal delivery of manganese solution enhanced olfactory signal pathways in rats. Odor cue paired with foot shocks activated amygdala, the central brain region in fear, and related brain circuits. Use of MEMRI in fear conditioning provides a reliable monitoring technique of brain activation for fear learning.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.59-63
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• 2018

Purpose - It has already been proved that 'mood' as the physical environment of shopping affects consumers' main sensory channels such as sight, hearing, smell, touch. However, there is no consensus on how the olfactory cue influences the customers in the shopping environment. In this study, we examine the previous studies on how the olfactory cue affects the customers in the shopping environment and present a clear direction as a suggestion for progressive research. Research design, data, and methodology - It is not important to use a lot of unconditional fragrance, but it should be exposed to the environment that suits the proper fragrance. In recent years, meaningful research on store fragrance has been slowly increasing. As a result, studies on the fragrance effects of retail stores have been conducted to verify the relevance of fragrance suitability in stores and consumer spending scale. Results - The fragrance appropriate for each store can not be uniformly specified as any fragrance. This is because external variables such as time, season, temperature, lighting, density of shoppers, and music in the store also affect customer evaluation. For example, using an unsuitable fragrance may encourage customers to leave the store quickly by restraining impulsive purchases or by disturbing concentration. The store manager should also be interested in using fragrances that are proven and effective in the store environment, but they should also have the ability to easily manipulate and manage the fragrances very appropriately according to changes in the store environment. Store managers should observe consumer preferences and responses according to their goals and strategies, and then systematically manage and store information about the fragrance appropriate to the store. Conclusions - In the future, the fragrance marketing researcher needs to consider the spatial form and density of the customer. In practice, managers operating a retail store should check the most appropriate store density(congestion) according to the size and spatial characteristics of the store and maintain the ideal conditions. To do this, it is necessary to pay attention to how to select and control sensory elements such as fragrance(olfactory), music(auditory), and lighting(visual).