Shyness and olfactory threshold

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Abstract

High levels of central norepinephrine may be one of the possible bases for the relation between physiological and behavioral characteristics in introverts and extraverts. Olfactory sensitivity may provide an indirect measure of central norepinephrine levels due to the strong direct innervation of the olfactory bulb by projections from the locus coeruleus. In study 1, extremely shy, male adults had lower olfactory thresholds, more lightly colored eyes, and slightly more ectomorphic physiques than extremely sociable male adults. In study 2, extremely shy, blue-eyed males had somewhat lower olfactory thresholds and were significantly more ectomorphic than sociable brown-eyed males. A meta-analysis of the two studies indicated that both olfactory threshold and physique were significantly different for blue-eyed, shy males and brown-eyed, sociable males. These findings lend modest support to the hypothesis that the two groups differ in threshold of limbic responsivity to novelty as a result of differences in central norepinephrine levels.

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