Our research is directed at human olfactory behavior and the processes mediating olfactory perception in the human brain. We are especially interested in the interaction of the sense of smell with other sensory systems. Within this scope we examine the neural correlates underlying the perception of bimodal odorants stimulating the olfactory as well as the intranasal trigeminal system. We are also using multimodal stimulation to study multimodal integration both on a perceptual as well as on a cognitive processing level. The aim of our research is to understand how the different senses interact to form a unique percept. We are exploring traditional odors as well as odors that are used as chemosensory signals to communicate e.g. emotional status of a human being. We use behavioral and psychophysiological measures as well as functional imaging methods (EEG/ERP, fMRI).

Our work contributes to a better understanding of the perception and cortical processing of chemosensory stimuli.

We are affiliated with the Clinic for Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology of the University Hospital Aachen and the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising.

Our research is funded by the following institutions. We gratefully thank those institutions for their support.