Study on the effects of peppermint and dry ginger odor environments on human thermal sensation

Abstract

With the continuous advancement of multisensory interaction research, the relationship between scent and thermal sensation has gradually become a topic of increasing interest. This study selected 24 participants who wore U- inhalers and were exposed to peppermint scent (with a cooling effect) and dry ginger scent (with a warming effect) in a randomized order under three environmental temperatures: 18 °C, 24 °C, and 30 °C. Psychological and physiological data were collected to analyze the impact of strong olfactory stimuli on thermal sensation. The results indicate that peppermint scent is most effective in high-temperature environments, significantly reducing thermal sensation votes (TSV), increasing thermal comfort votes (TCV), and raising diastolic blood pressure. Conversely, dry ginger scent is most effective in low-temperature environments, significantly increasing both TSV and TCV, while also elevating diastolic blood pressure. However, these effects on TSV were not reflected in skin temperature, respiratory rate, or heart rate. Correlation analysis showed that total EEG power is negatively correlated with comfort levels under neutral and cool conditions. Additionally, in low-temperature environments, TCV was negatively correlated with the LF/HF ratio. Furthermore, the PMV model was modified to incorporate odor effects, resulting in improved fit (R² = 0.76) with TSV compared to the original model (R² = 0.69), indicating a better fitting performance.