# CRCNS: Data Sharing: Pyrfume: A library for mammalian olfactory psychophysics

> **NIH NIH R01** · ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY-TEMPE CAMPUS · 2020 · $147,946

## Abstract

Psychophysics refers to a class of research methods and measurements used to study a perceptual
system. In olfaction research, experimental psychophysics consists of behavioral tests that illuminate the
relationship between odorants and the percepts they evoke. Theoretical olfactory psychophysics attempts
to makes sense of these test results by constructing models that can predict or explain them. These
models then constrain broader theories of olfaction (including neural mechanisms) and inform the design of
experiments that probe those mechanisms. However, many potentially illuminating datasets from academia
and industry that could inform or test theoretical efforts remain difficult to locate, access, and use. Models
driven by previously available data have thus been only sparsely tested and are only weakly generalizable.
Pyrfume is an effort to extensively curate data related to olfactory psychophysics, to transparently and
automatically determine how well models make sense of this data, and to inform experimental design for
olfactory research at large. It will consist of a central , research-focused database of human psychophysics
research data extracted from literature, other disparate databases, and industrial sources. It will also
contain complementary research data from animal models that directly address the same kinds of
questions about specific stimuli, but at a neural level inaccessible to most human experiments. All of these
data will be accessible via a common framework and be immediately usable for data-driven tests of
competing models of olfaction in health and disease.
RELEVANCE (See instructions):
Smell is essential for social behavior, food enjoyment, and danger avoidance; anosmia is associated with
depression, and olfactory decline is an early warning sign for neurodegenerative diseases. This project
organizes understanding of human olfaction, facilitating quantification of olfactory health, disease biomarker
development, and cures for olfactory disorders. Optometry and audiology are refined clinical tools that map
perceptual deficits onto medical targets; this work can help advance olfactometry to the same level.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9977149
- **Project number:** 5R01DC018455-02
- **Recipient organization:** ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY-TEMPE CAMPUS
- **Principal Investigator:** Richard C Gerkin
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $147,946
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9977149

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9977149, CRCNS: Data Sharing: Pyrfume: A library for mammalian olfactory psychophysics (5R01DC018455-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9977149. Licensed CC0.

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