Hunter-Gatherer Olfaction Is Special

Bibliographic Collection: 
APE
Publication Type: Journal Article
Authors: Majid, Asifa; Kruspe, Nicole
Year of Publication: 2018
Journal: Current BiologyCurrent Biology
Volume: 28
Issue: 3
Pagination: 409 - 413.e2
Publication Language: eng
ISBN Number: 0960-9822
Abstract:

People struggle to name odors [1?4]. This has been attributed to a diminution of olfaction in trade-off to vision [5?10]. This presumption has been challenged recently by data from the hunter-gatherer Jahai who, unlike English speakers, find odors as easy to name as colors [4]. Is the superior olfactory performance among the Jahai because of their ecology (tropical rainforest), their language family (Aslian), or because of their subsistence (they are hunter-gatherers)? We provide novel evidence from the hunter-gatherer Semaq Beri and the non-hunter-gatherer (swidden-horticulturalist) Semelai that subsistence is the critical factor. Semaq Beri and Semelai speakers?who speak closely related languages and live in the tropical rainforest of the Malay Peninsula?took part in a controlled odor- and color-naming experiment. The swidden-horticulturalist Semelai found odors much more difficult to name than colors, replicating the typical Western finding. But for the hunter-gatherer Semaq Beri odor naming was as easy as color naming, suggesting that hunter-gatherer olfactory cognition is special.People struggle to name odors [1?4]. This has been attributed to a diminution of olfaction in trade-off to vision [5?10]. This presumption has been challenged recently by data from the hunter-gatherer Jahai who, unlike English speakers, find odors as easy to name as colors [4]. Is the superior olfactory performance among the Jahai because of their ecology (tropical rainforest), their language family (Aslian), or because of their subsistence (they are hunter-gatherers)? We provide novel evidence from the hunter-gatherer Semaq Beri and the non-hunter-gatherer (swidden-horticulturalist) Semelai that subsistence is the critical factor. Semaq Beri and Semelai speakers?who speak closely related languages and live in the tropical rainforest of the Malay Peninsula?took part in a controlled odor- and color-naming experiment. The swidden-horticulturalist Semelai found odors much more difficult to name than colors, replicating the typical Western finding. But for the hunter-gatherer Semaq Beri odor naming was as easy as color naming, suggesting that hunter-gatherer olfactory cognition is special.

Notes:

doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.12.014

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