Murathan Kurfali receives Swedish Research Council grant!

Murathan Kurfali has received 4.5 million sek, for the project ”Doftande AI? Integrering av lukt i stora språkmodeller” – Smelling AI? Integration of smell in Large Language Models! Congratulations!

New publication about the language of Wine, Food and Perfume!

Another study from the lab is published in Food Quality & Preference! On the basis of natural language in product reviews, this study compares and maps the semantic spaces of the chemosensory vocabularies of the wine, perfume and food product domains. Thomas Hörberg and Murathan Kurfali have spearheaded this study. Find it here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2024.105357

A Rose by Another Name? – New publication from the Lab!

A new article from the Lab has been published in Cognitive Science! The article’s full title is ”A Rose by Another Name? Odor Misnaming is Associated with Linguistic Properties” and is about the work lead by Thomas Hörberg and Murathan Kurfali. Abstract: Naming common odors is a surprisingly difficult task: Odors are frequently misnamed. Little […]

SCI-LAB contributed at ISOT 2024!

The SCI-Lab recently participated in the International Symposium on Olfaction and Taste (ISOT) in Reykjavik, June 22-26. Jonas Olofsson and William Fredborg delivered oral presentations in the symposium ”Working Memory in the Chemical Senses”. Meanwhile, Nira Cedres, Malina Szychowska, and Samet Albayrak presented their posters, receiving much positive feedback. We were proud to share our […]

Thank you Arianna and Francesca!

During the spring, we have had two guest interns from Università ”Magna Græcia” di Catanzaro. Arianna Spatafora and Francesca Vozzo have been assisting us in our research projects and data collection – we wouldn´t have made it without them! We wish them the best and great fortune in whatever they do next!

SCI-lab goes to the ISOT conference in Reykavik

The SCI-Lab is attending the International Symposium on Olfaction and Taste (ISOT) in Reykavik, Iceland, on June 22-26. Five members are representing the lab. Jonas Olofsson and William Fredborg will have oral presentations in the “Working memory in the chemical senses” session, and Nira Cedres, Malina Szychowska and Samet Albayrak will have poster presentations. We […]

Lab visit from South African Universities!

Sci-Lab is part of the Perception & Psykophysics division of Stockholm university’s Psychology Department. As part of a visit to the University dignitaries from South African Universities visited our Division to see and try-out our lab resources. We had a fun time demonstrating our ”toys” and we hope they had a fun time too!   […]

New SCI-LAB article early release in JNeuroSci

Our article Olfactory categorization is shaped by a transmodal cortical network for evaluating perceptual predictions has been early released in JNeuroSci! Abstract: Creating and evaluating predictions are considered important features in sensory perception. Little is known about processing differences between the senses and their cortical substrates. Here, we tested the hypothesis that olfaction, the sense […]

Dr Petter Kallioinen!

Petter Kallioinen successfully defended his phD thesis today! The defense was in Lund, were Petter has been phD-student and on Zoom. Petter has been part of our Lab in the capacity of phD-student for some time, as Jonas Olofsson has been his co-supervisor. find his thesis here!

Anandi Hattiangadi

Anandi Hattiangadi, professor of Philosophy of Mind and Language, came and gave a great talk on LLM AI titled ”Why large language models don’t understand natural language”.

Guest researcher Samet Albayrak joins the Lab.

Samet Albayrak is a Turkish PHD-student, who visits SCI-LAB for a year. Here they will bring gustation research to us and do a multisensory perception project, which consider olfaction’s and vision’s interaction on taste and flavour integration!

Malina Szychowska receives Research Project Grant from the Swedish Research Council!

Malina Szychowska, one of our postdocs in SCI-LAB, have received the news that her application ”Att navigera i det sensoriska landskapet: Hur våra sinnen formar rumsliga minnen” (”Navigating the Sensory Landscape: How Our Senses Shape Spatial Memories”) has been accepted! The grant is for three years and for a total of 5,054,000 sek and will […]

Simon Niedenthal, Malmö university visits and presents his talk from his Professor promotion

Professor Simon Niedenthal was recently promoted to Professor of Interaction Design. He is a long time collaborator with our Lab and together we have developed much of our smell training and testing equipment. In his presentation, Simon spoke about the current and past state of olfaction in interactive entertainment, such as movies and games, and […]

Murathan’s presents at ECRO symposium

Murathan Kurfali held a presentation titled Investigating the relation between Semantic Space and Olfactory Perceptions using Language Models. He was choosen to be part of the Young Investigators symposium. ”In this presentation, Murathan explored how various language models, including ChatGPT, capture olfactory-semantic relationships. Findings reveal that large language models like ChatGPT tend to resemble human […]

Jonas Olofsson releases a new book – ”Det underskattade sinnet”!

The book is in Swedish,  the title translated is ”The underrated sense – About man’s unknown ability to perceive smells”. It popularizes our understanding of, and the remarkable aspects, of the human sense of smell. Link to Publisher: https://www.nok.se/ From the release of ”Det underskattade sinnet”

SCI-LAB had its annual Retreat and Lab workshop

Every year SCI-LAB take a retreat to plan and workshop the Lab’s progress. Previous retreats have focused on developing different skills and the Lab’s progress towards its targeets. This year marked five years since the SCI-LAB was formed, and we focused on evaluating the Lab’s achievements during this time and to formulate new targets for […]

Murathan Karfali explained chatGPT and AI at the Psychology department´s conference!

The Department of Psychology at Stockholm University had a two-day conference where AI was one of the themes. Murathan introduced the AI seminar with his talk on What is ChatGPT!  

Jonas Olofsson keynote speaker at Pangborn conference!

Jonas Olofsson was invited as keynote speaker to the annual Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium. The title of his keynote was Using language to understand the sense of smell.

Marta Zakrzewska awarded best PhD thesis award!

Marta Zakrzewska, who defended her PhD thesis last year, was selected for the best PhD thesis award at the Department of Psychology. Marta is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Karolinska Institute and the lab of professor Mats J. Olsson. Congratulations Marta!

SCI-lab hosts the Olfactus conference at Stockholm University

The Olfactus 2023 conference was hosted by the SCI-lab and our colleagues at the Gösta Ekman Laboratory. In this intensive 1-day conference, 43 participants attended. There were 17 talks, mostly by junior researchers and students, on a wide variety of chemical senses research topics. Some pictures from the event are available on the Gösta Ekman […]

Jonas Olofsson awarded AChemS Young Investigator Award!

The PI of the SCI-lab, Jonas Olofsson was awarded the AChemS Young Investigator Award for Research in Olfaction or Nasal Chemoreception by the Association for Chemoreception Sciences! The award is given to “an outstanding junior scientist whose research record should provide evidence of excellence and contributions that have had or are likely to have a major […]

New article: Odor identification errors reveal cognitive aspects of age-associated smell loss

New SCI-Lab paper! Rohan Rajs work explains odor identification results with help from language models and human estimations. This work, which was recently published in Cognition, might help developing better odor assessments to detect early stage dementia. Find ”Odor identification errors reveal cognitive aspects of age-associated smell loss” here.

New article: Body odour disgust sensitivity is associated with xenophobia: evidence from nine countries across five continents

Marta Zakrzewska, who recently graduated as a PhD from the lab and is now a postdoc at Karolinska Institute, found that body odor disgust sensitivity is associated with xenophobia across the world. This pre-registered research was recently published in Royal Society Open Science. Find ”Body odour disgust sensitivity is associated with xenophobia: evidence from nine […]

Jonas will be a keynote speaker at the Pangborn Sensory Symposium this year!

Jonas Olofsson has been invited as a keynote speaker at the Pangborn Sensory Symposium in Nantes, France (August 20-24). Pangborn is an academic conference focusing on sensory science and consumer science (www.pangbornsymposium.com). #Pangborn2023

Nira Cedres, from our Lab, had her paper highlighted as ”editor´s choice” in the Journals of Gerontology!

”Nira Cedres’ paper; Subjective Impairments in Olfaction and Cognition Predict Dissociated Behavioral Outcomes, was highlighted as editor’s choice in the Journals of Gerontology” (link to paper)! The study aimed to investigate the relationship and co-occurrence of self-rated subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and subjective olfactory impairment (SOI) and the results suggest that SOI and SCD occur […]

Documentary on Smell and biographical memory

We were visited by documentary filmmaker Cosima Dannoritzer, as part of the production of her new project involving smell and memory. Maria Larsson, head of Perception and Psychophysics, were interviewed for the documentary and SCI-LAB made its contribution to the segment. We hope you willl enjoy the documentary when it is released some time this […]

Media interest for our VR compatible olfactometer!

Our recently published paper on our inhouse developed handheld olfactometer for use with VR has gained interest from several Swedish media sources. We have been featured on Swedish TV, newspaper and Radio. Below you can find links to our appearances (Swedish): SVT, Swedish public television: svt.se and svt.se TV4 news: tv4play.se P3 spel, Swedish public […]

New publication! We have published our handheld olfactometer for use in VR.

We have an article out in the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies on our inhouse developed VR-compatible olfactometer (smell presenter). This device allows for easier and robust odor presentation in VR-based environments. It can be used for research, smell training, wine tasting and gaming, as it allows intractions with odor-objects ingame. Link to the article: […]

New article on age-related smell changes published!

In our new SCI-LAB study, published in Neuropsychologia, Georgios Menelaou found that age-related smell changes are associated with changes in parts of the hippocampus brain region – supporting the notion that smell is a window into the aging brain: https://www.sciencedirect.com

Marta successfully defends her PhD thesis

Marta Zakrzewska defended har PhD thesis Olfaction and Prejudice: The role of body odor disgust sensitivity and disease avoidance in understanding social attitudes today with flying colors! Her aim was to investigate the connection between olfaction, odor disgust, and social attitudes from the perspective of disease avoidance. You can find the thesis here.

Marta Zakrzewska nailed her PhD thesis to the wall of the Psychology department!

On Thursday, June 2, Marta Zakrzewska nailed her PhD thesis to the wall of the Psychology department; a long-standing tradition that symbolizes that the thesis is finalized and publicly available. Martas public defense is planned for August 25 at Stockholm University. Information about the defense seminar, and the thesis, can be found here: https://www.su.se/department-of-psychology/calendar/dissertation-olfaction-and-prejudice-1.614672

New COVID paper in PNAS

During the pandemic, Jonas and Teodor participated in a large-scale collaboration to study how to communicate effectively about ”social distancing”. This paper, which includes data from 89 countries and over 25k participants, is now published in PNAS: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2111091119

Arrivederci to our Erasmus students!

This spring, we had the pleasure of hosting Maria Laura Gidari and Sharon Cannataro, students at the University of Catanzaro in Italy, who visited us via the Erasmus program. Maria Laura and Sharon learned about and participated in smell testing in the SCI-Lab. Good luck with your future studies and arrivederci!

Lab visit from the Ambassador for Japan!

The Ambassador for Japan in Sweden, Noke Masaki, visited Stockholm University, and was given a tour of the olfactory laboratory and the other sensory laboratories at the Psychology Department. 

Welcome new lab members!

We welcome our new lab members, Malina Szychowska (postdoc), Mikaela Pal and Martin Sundgren (research assistants). More information about our new members can be found on the ”People” page.

Thank you Sandra and Georgios!

Two of our talented research assistants, Sandra Challma and Georgios Menelaou, is moving on to new research jobs after spending the last two years in the SCI-lab. Thank you for your contributions to the team!

Highlighted research from Lab member Nira

The work on the Interplay between gray and white matter neurodegeneration in Subjetive cognitive decline, published by our Postdoc Nira Cedres last year, has been highlighted during the Subjective Cognitive Decline Professional Interest Area (PIA) Year in Review 2021 seminar from the Alzheimer’s Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART). Follow the […]

Qian Janice Wang visited the Lab and presented her projects!

This week we had a visit from Dr Qian Janice Wang! We got to show her the interactive projects we are working on and she demonstrated some of hers. Turns out we are working on some very similar things! She also presented her work on multisensory perception, with interesting parallels with her expertise in wine […]

Demonstration of our Smell training game at the Museum of Technology in Stockholm

This year’s autumn-break from school was designated ”research break” and the Museum of Technology invited researchers from different fields to present and demonstrate their research. We attended and demonstrated our Smell training game called Exerscent. The kids, adults and staff took to Exerscent excitedly!

Jonas Olofsson elected member of the Academia Europaea

Jonas Olofsson has been elected to the Academia Europaea, an academy with the purpose of forwarding excellence in research and education in Europe. Jonas will join the class ”The Human Mind and its Complexity”. Jonas Olofsson invald i academia europaea (Swedish)

Nira Cedres has published an article on subjective memory complaints!

Our postDoc Nira Cedres has published an article on subjective memory complaints in Aging – Congratulations! The article and abstract can be found here: www.aging-us.com.

Report from ECRO 2021

The SCI-lab attended the European Chemoreception Research Organization 2021 meeting in Cascais, Portugal. The scientific content included several high-quality symposia, as well as a keynote lecture by Nobel prize laureate Linda Buck. Our team included 12 members, and we presented ongoing work in 9 posters and one oral presentation. Before the ECRO meeting started, we […]

Jonas Olofsson gästar Nobel Prize Museums podcast (Swedish)

Jonas Olofsson visits episode 19 of the Nobel Prize Museums podcast to discuss how the sense of smell works. And why some infectious disease (such as COVID-19) can impact the olfactory system and how smell loss may affect us. Lyssna här (Swedish).

New Lab-member! Welcome Nira!

We welcome Nira Cedres to the lab as a postDoc! Nira is a researcher at Stockholm University Department of Psychology and she is affiliated at Karolinska Institute Division of Clinical Geriatrics. She has a PhD in psychology and the main focus of her research has long been on cognition and MRI neuroimaging.

[Found] Computational neuroscientist wanted!

We are looking for a Research Assistant to work on the computational aspects of memory and olfaction. You will build computational network models of the observed olfactory perceptual as well as memory phenomena. More information about the position and how to apply can be found here!

Jonas Olofsson has been awarded a Consolidator Grant from the Swedish Research Council!

The grant will fund the SCI-LAB for the coming 6 years. The research project is called ”What can the sense of smell teach us about higher brain functions?” and involves cognitive training with smells and other sensory materials, as well as brain imaging measurements. The research will have a focus on aging.  More information is […]

Jonas Olofsson elected member of the Swedish National Committee for Psychological Sciences

Jonas Olofsson, Principal Investigator of SCI-lab, was recently elected member The Swedish National Committee for Psychological Sciences, one of the scientific committees appointed by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and associated with the International Council for Science. The aim of the Swedish National Committee for Psychological Sciences is to promote research, training, and development […]

Update from SCI-LAB regarding COVID-19

We take the COVID-19 pandemic seriously and we have changed our procedures and our operation to secure both our and our guest’s safety. A statement can be found here. We have joined a global consortium of investigators (GCCR) to study COVID-19’s (and other respiratory illnesses) effect on the senses of smell and taste. You can […]

New preprint! Odor effects on face perception

In a new review, Elmeri Syrjänen and colleagues have summarized and integrated 25 years of research on how valenced odors affect perception of faces. The preprint can be accessed here: https://psyarxiv.com/8jdu9/

New preprint! Olfaction and aging review

Jonas Olofsson and colleagues have written a synthesis of how aging affects olfactory abilities. The preprint provides a state of the art review of current research and future directions, and can be accessed here: https://psyarxiv.com/n7av3/

New website on Smell Training and loss of smell due to COVID-19!

We have in collaboration with our friends and colleagues at the Perceptual Neuroscience Lab (Karolinska Institutet) developed a new website with information about smell-loss associated with COVID-19 and with smell training to relieve smell loss.   Here, you can find the current understanding of how the coronavirus affect the sense and perception of smells. You […]

Lab retreat 2020

SCI-LAB usually goes on a retreat in the beginning of fall every year. This year we went to Vaxholm in Stockholm archipelago. We enjoyed the view; the food and we had stimulating workshops to motivate us for the coming year! This year we worked on our writing, and the process of how to write. We […]

New researcher, Robert Lindroos!

We welcome our new Lab-member Robert Lindroos! He will be working with us on building abstract models of how the sense of smell connects to different forms of memory structures using neuromodulations.  

Congratulations Elmeri on defending your phD-thesis!

Today Elmeri successfully defended his phD-thesis: The effects of valenced odor on facial perception. Several years of hard work has now come to fruition and we congratulate Elmeri on becoming Doktor Elmeri Syrjänen!

New Paper!

You can find Thomas Hörberg’s new paper, published in Cerebral Cortex, here: https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaa050 A press release can be found here: https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/su/latest_news

Update from SCI-LAB regarding the COVID-19 pandemic

The ongoing pandemic has impacted our work and our lives in general. Since March 12, when the severe effects of COVID-19 became clear, we have been working remotely. While the situation is still unfolding in Sweden, daily life is already transformed for a majority of its inhabitants.   In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and […]

Predictive Coding Talk

Our lab hosts biweekly talks where our members share data and discuss topics and papers relevant to their work. This week Georgios gave a talk related to visual predictive coding.

Forthcoming Publications!

Both Marta and Thomas have had their latest papers accepted for publication! Marta will be publishing a study titled ”An overprotective nose? Implicit bias is positively related to individual differences in body odor disgust sensitivity” in Frontiers In Psychology. Thomas’ paper is titled ”Olfactory influences on visual categorization: Behavioral and ERP evidence” and will appear in […]

New Research Assistants

We are happy to announce we have recruited 4 new members to the team: Teodor Jernsäther-Ohlsson, Sandra Challma, Georgios Menelaou , and William Fredborg.

[Found] Research assistants wanted!

We are looking for three research assistants to help us figure out how the sense of smell interacts with memory, language and emotion. We are seeking dedicated candidates with a strong interest in psychology and neuroscience and who are excited to be part of our research team. More information about the positions and the application […]

SCI-LAB at ECRO 2019

SCI-LAB spent the week in Trieste for the annual ECRO conference. Our days has been full of sunshine, good food and interesting chemosensory reserach. We presented our research at two symposiums and with several poster presentations. Thomas Hörberg, our postdoc, won the price for best poster for The semantic organization of the English odor vocabulary! […]