Understanding olfactory pleasure through an interdisciplinary approach (CLIO)
Smells are important for our diet, our relationships with others and our psychological well-being. Smell is characterized by interpersonal diversity, due to physiological, socio-cognitive and genetic factors. Although this variation is well known to researchers and industry, the influence of these factors on olfactory pleasure is still poorly understood. The CLIO study aims to better understand how genetics on the one hand and physiological and socio-cognitive factors on the other hand contribute to the construction of olfactory pleasure.
This 3-year study, supported for its launch by the Per Fumum Endowment Fund, is jointly led by Moustafa Bensafi, neuroscientist and director of research at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Centre (CNRS/ Inserm/ University of Lyon) and Denis Pierron, CNRS researcher at the Evolution and Oral Health Laboratory (Paul-Sabatier University Toulouse III).
Director of Research at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Centre
Moustafa BENSAFI
Moustafa Bensafi is Director of Research at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Centre (CNRS/Inserm/University of Lyon).
In 2008 he received the bronze medal of the CNRS and was awarded the Moskowitz Jacobs Inc. Award for Research Excellence in the Psychophysics of Taste and Smell.
He is the author of more than 100 scientific publications and a book on the Brain and Smell. His current work focuses on the brain function of the sense of smell and olfactory deficits in humans.
CNRS researcher at the Laboratoire Évolution et Santé Orale (Université Paul-Sabatier Toulouse III)
Denis PIERRON
With a PhD in biological anthropology, Denis Pierron has been studying the diversity of human populations for 15 years.
During his PhD, he explored the genetic diversity of the French population, and continued his research during his post-doc (2009-2011) at Wayne-State University in Michigan. It was during this period in the US that he became interested in the genetic coding of human olfactory receptors.
Since this period and his entry into the CNRS, he has sought to better understand the importance and role of genetic diversity in the perception of tastes and odours in populations around the world. He is the author of about fifty scientific publications.