My general research interest is olfactory cognition and emotion. The underlying theme of my research is to understand how biological mechanisms and cognitive processes interact and influence perception, cognition and behavior. My experimental approach incorporates both cognitive-behavioral and neuropsychological techniques.

Research Description

My general research interest is olfactory cognition and emotion. Experimental topics that I am currently pursuing include: (1) comparing odor-associated memory with memory mediated through other sensory systems (2) the influence of emotion in the formation of odor associations (3) how odors can become conditioned to emotions and influence behavior (4) how context and language influence olfactory perception and (5) how sensory information is perceived and evaluated differently by men and women in their sexual strategies. The underlying theme of my research is to understand how biological mechanisms and cognitive processes interact and influence perception, cognition and behavior. My experimental approach incorporates both cognitive-behavioral and neuropsychological techniques.

Awards

1989-1991 Ontario Graduate Student Scholarship
1991-1992 Life Sciences Graduate Degree Completion Award
1992-1994 NSERC Post-Doctoral Fellowship
1994 Ajinomoto USA Inaugural Award to Promising Young Scientists in the Chemical Senses
1998-2000 Morley R. Kare Fellow, Monell Chemical Senses Center
2002 Moskowitz Jacobs Award for Research Excellence in the Psychophysics of Taste and Smell
2004- Member of the Society of Sigma Xi
2004-2008 Distinguished Lecturer, Institute of Food Technologists

Funded Research

Research Grants Received: Principal Investigator
1995-1996 Olfactory Research Fund: "The emotional distinctiveness of odor-evoked memories." ($35,000)

1996-1997 Olfactory Research Fund: "The emotional quality and accuracy of memories associated to olfactory versus musical stimuli." ($35,000)

1996-1997 NIH/NIDA, B/START: "Caffeine state-dependent memory: Relation to dose & mood." ($60,000)

1998-2001 H & R Florasynth: "Mechanisms involved in the perception of odor pleasantness." ($95,000)

2001-2002 Oakland Innovation: "Olfactory emotional conditioning: Effects on perception and cognition." ($35,000)

2001-2002 Brown University Faculty Development Fund ($1,500)

2001-2002 Brown University Magnetic Resonance Foundation/Itlleson Foundation: "An examination of the neural areas involved in emotional versus non-emotional olfactory and visual memory." ($10,000)

2003 Sense of Smell Institute: "Women's psychology of fragrance through the life stages." ($15,000)

2003-2004 International Flavors and Fragrances: "Emotion and Olfactory Perception." ($15,000)



Research Grants: Co-Investigator
1997-1998 Olfactory Research Fund: Collaborator with Gisela Epple, Ph.D. "The influence of odor-evoked memories on child behavior."

1997-1998 NIH/NIA Center Grant for CNLM, University of California, Irvine: Collaborator with Larry Cahill, Ph.D. "Emotional arousal, olfactory memory and the amygdala: Implications for understanding Alzheimer's disease."

Teaching Experience

Olfaction and Human Behavior, Freshman Seminar, PY19

In this Freshman Seminar we explore how our sense of smell is involved in a variety of psychological processes, including emotion, learning, memory, language, and social behavior. Topics such as olfaction in health, technology and marketing are also critically examined. In addition to the intellectual material covered, students acquire verbal presentation, critical thinking, analytical writing, and research skills.

The course is not lecture format. Students are required to actively participate in seminar discussions.

Courses Taught

• Olfaction and Human Behavior (PY19)

Selected Publications

• Herz, R.S., Schankler, C. & Beland, S. (2004, in press). Olfaction, emotion and associative learning: Effects on motivated behavior. Motivation and Emotion.(2004)
• Herz, R.S., Beland, S.L. & Hellerstein, M. (2004, in press). Changing human hedonic perception of odors through emotional associations. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 17.(2004)
• Herz, R.S., (2004). A comparison of autobiographical memories triggered by olfactory, visual and auditory stimuli. Chemical Senses, 29, 217-224.(2004)
• Carskadon, M., & Herz, R.S. (2004). Minimal olfactory perception during sleep: Why odor alarms will not work for humans. Sleep, 27, 402-405.(2004)
• Herz, R.S., Eliassen, J.C., Beland, S.L., & T. Souza. (2003). Neuroimaging evidence for the emotional potency of odor-evoked memory. Neuropsychologia, 42, 371-378.(2003)
• Herz, R.S. (2003). The effect of verbal context in olfactory perception. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,132,595-606.(2003)
• Herz, R.S., & Inzlicht, M. (2002). Gender differences in response to physical and social signals involved in human mate selection: The importance of smell for women. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23, 359-364.(2002)
• Herz, R.S., & Schooler, J.W. (2002). A naturalistic study of autobiographical memories evoked to olfactory versus visual cues. American Journal of Psychology, 115, 21-32.(2002)
• Herz, R.S., & von Clef, J. (2001). The influence of verbal labeling on the perception of odors: Evidence for olfactory illusions? Perception, 30, 381-391.(2001)
• Herz, R.S. (2000). Verbal coding in olfactory versus nonolfactory cognition. Memory & Cognition, 28, 957-964.(2000)
• Herz, R.S. (2000). Scents of Time. The Sciences (July/August), 34-39.(2000)
• Herz, R.S., McCall, C. & Cahill, L. (1999). Hemispheric lateralization in the processing of odor pleasantness versus odor names. Chemical Senses, 24, 691-695.(1999)
• Epple, G. & Herz, R.S. (1999). Ambient odors associated to failure influence cognitive performance in children. Developmental Psychobiology, 35, 103-107.(1999)
• Herz, R.S. (1998). Are odors the best cues to memory? A cross-modal comparison of associative memory stimuli. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 855, 670-674.(1998)
• Herz, R.S. & Cahill, E. D. (1997). Differential use of sensory information in sexual behavior as a function of gender. Human Nature, 8, 275-286.(1997)
• Herz, R.S. (1997). Emotion experienced during encoding enhances odor retrieval cue effectiveness. The American Journal of Psychology, 110, 489-505.(1997)