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Environmental odors can affect individuals’ physiology and ethology (a study on ants as models)

par Cammaerts Tricot, Marie-Claire ;Cammaerts, Roger
Référence Biology, engineering and medicine, 3, 5, page (10)
Publication Publié, 2018

Article révisé par les pairs

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Résumé :

Aiming to check if environmental artificially added odors can positively or negatively affect the individuals’ health, we examined, using ants as model organisms, the effects of onion and of lavender odors on eleven ant’s physiological and ethological traits. Onion odor increased the ants’ linear and angular speed, as well as their aggressiveness against nestmates impacting thus their social relationship. It decreased their orientation ability, audacity, tactile perception, brood caring behavior, escaping ability, cognition as well as slightly their short term memory. On the contrary, lavender odor slightly increased the ants’ linear speed, orientation ability, audacity, escaping ability, cognition and short-term memory. It did not affect their tactile perception, brood caring behavior and aggressiveness against nestmates (so, their social relationship). It slightly decreased their aggressiveness against aliens. Odors seem to have some effects on the ants individuals’ physiological and behavior. Using ants as model organisms, and under the hypothesis that numerous physiological traits likely to be affected by aromatic molecules are similar in insect and humans, we can therefore emit the hypothesis that odors could be used to some extend to influence human physiology and behavior. This field of investigation, and the use of ants as model organisms, could be a way to investigate potential effects of active substances in aromatherapy, in which people are exposed to aromatic compounds through aerial diffusion or direct inhalation of these compounds.