Environmental Effects Exceed Genetic Effects on Perceived Intensity and Pleasantness of Several Odors: A Three-Population Twin Study

Human genes encoding odorant receptors have been identified, but the contribution of genetic effects to total variation in specific odor perceptions is largely unknown. We estimated the relative contributions of genetic and environmental effects to variation in the perceived intensity and pleasantness of cinnamon, chocolate, turpentine, and isovaleric acid (sweaty) odors by quantitative genetic modeling of odor rating data from 856 twin individuals (including 83 complete monozygotic and 275 dizygotic twin pairs) aged 10–60 years (44% males and 56% females) from Australia, Denmark, and Finland. Results from fitting univariate models including components for additive genetic (A), shared environmental (C), and non-shared environmental (E) effects to the data implied that non-shared environmental effects account for the most variation in ratings of individual odors while genetic effects play only a minor role. Multivariate independent pathway model revealed a modest but significant common additive genetic component for intensity ratings, explaining 18% of the total variation. The results promote the importance of inter-individual variation in odor exposures and olfactory plasticity to odor perception. Edited by Deborah Finkel.