Studying Chemosensory Perception and Its Hedonic Component in an Anthropological Context: From Genetics to Psychophysical Measures

Psychophysical studies have demonstrated the impact of various biological factors on smell. In particular, it has been shown that genetic background plays an important role in the intensity of perception, the detection threshold of a molecule, or its hedonic character, and therefore, the emotions triggered. The next challenge is to explore how such findings can be generalized across a variety of populations, locations, and contexts closer to people’s everyday lives since most studies are primarily conducted on Western populations in a standardized setting. It is within this perspective that we propose here a methodology to collect data and to measure the relationship between a genetic variant and an olfactory psychophysical phenotype in remote populations. Based on our field experiences in remote villages of Madagascar, and the example of a ubiquitous food-related odorant molecule ß-ionone, we present a protocol to efficiently and respectfully collect DNA and psychophysical data from individuals located in a remote area with limited resources.