Sniffing out emotions and social interactions
Humans communicate emotions through a variety of paths, including speech, touch, facial expressions and motion. What is less clear is how we can communicate social information through chemical signals, or chemosignals. “We know our bodies release subtle chemical cues that can influence our emotions and the emotions of those around us,” explains Enzo Pasquale Scilingo, a researcher at the University of Pisa(opens in new window). “What we don’t understand is how these social scents elicit emotions and impact our social interactions.” Helping to answer this question is the EU-funded POTION(opens in new window) project. “By providing further insight into the fundamental background of human behaviour, the project aims to help establish healthy social relationships through trust, leading to an overall improvement in well-being,” adds Scilingo, who serves as the project’s coordinator.
Modulating social interaction by chemosignal
To start, the project analysed the chemical composition of the chemosignals that cause happiness and fear. “As the fundamental building blocks of social interaction, these emotions drive our approach and avoidance behaviour,” says Scilingo. The results of this analysis were used to artificially synthesise potential fear-related chemosignals, which were then used to develop a Bayesian Social Interaction Model for analysing social behaviour in response to chemosignals. The model provided the basis of an innovative computer-controlled odour delivery system able to drive the approach-avoidance social strategy. The breakthrough device is controlled in a closed loop, with the social-emotional state of the subjects being evaluated using an innovative computational neural model. “By dynamically adjusting odours based on real-time behavioural and physiological data, this breakthrough device pulls back the curtain on how olfaction clues work in managing feelings of trust, presence and inclusion in virtual contexts,” notes Scilingo. With this device in hand, the project conducted a randomised controlled trial that looked at how fear chemosignals can be used in mindfulness-based therapy for social anxiety.
Future prospects for chemosignal-based diagnosis and therapy in mental health
By providing empirical evidence of how chemosignals can be used to modulate human behaviour, the POTION project has set new benchmarks in chemosensory, psychological and social research. “Our work helps pave the way towards a new human chemosignal-based diagnosis and treatment for social anxiety, phobias and depression – all of which are known to impair social functioning,” remarks Scilingo. This path will be further paved as the project continues to move its device towards commercialisation via a new patent and the establishment of a spin-off company. Researchers are also looking at launching an additional EU-funded project that would further advance the project’s results. “While our initial results have demonstrated the role of fear-related chemosignals in modulating social behaviour, further work is needed to refine synthetic chemosignals and explore their effects in different social and clinical contexts,” says Scilingo.
Addressing ethical and legal issues
Although the project has indeed raised the bar in using chemosignals to influence human behaviour, it also raises a number of ethical and legal issues. That’s why, in addition to its scientific research, the project spent considerable time developing frameworks to ensure compliance with the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act(opens in new window) and medical device regulations. “Our technological advancements, ethical frameworks and commercialisation efforts ensure that the POTION project will continue to shape future research and innovation in affective computing and neurotechnology,” concludes Scilingo.
Keywords
POTION, emotions, social interaction, chemosignals, social anxiety, depression, social scents, human behaviour, happiness, fear, odours, olfaction, mental health, Artificial Intelligence Act