Gender differences in time perception during olfactory stimulation

In the present study we conducted two experiments to evaluate the effect of different types of odors on a time reproduction task, comparing performances of males to those of females. In the first experiment, subjects had to estimate short (510, 600, 690 ms) and long (1700, 2000, 2300 ms) interval durations under three odor conditions: positive, negative and neutral. A gender specific effect of olfactory stimulation on time estimation was found only for short durations. Namely, females were less accurate (overestimated) in reproducing short time intervals during the unpleasant odor presentation. This effect was confirmed and strengthened in the second experiment in which the intensity of the negative odor was enhanced. The present findings suggest that the neural network underlying time estimation is more ‘sensitive’ to context manipulations in females than in men.