The role of olfaction in human multisensory development

Part A: Typical development of multisensory processes from early gestation to old age, chapter 2Olfaction is an unavoidable and ubiquitous source of perceptual experience from the earliest stages of mammalian development. This chapter summarizes current understanding of how olfaction functions in concert with the other senses during human development, and the various ways early multisensory effects involving the chemical senses operate. This chapter first summarises aspects of current biological and psychological knowledge concerning olfaction in humans in order to provide some functional principles useful to understand the development of chemosensation in the context of multisensory processes. Finally, the available results concerning odour-based intersensory effects are reviewed