Cross‐Modal Interaction Between Menthol Odour and Visual Colours for Improving the Emotion Regulation

ABSTRACT

Sensory properties of food mainly included aroma, appearance, taste and others, which cannot be perceived independently. In this work, we evaluated the effect of the interaction between menthol odour and visual colours including red, green and blue, on the emotion regulation using sensory evaluation and electroencephalography analysis. The results showed that menthol stimuli with a concentration of 0.1% exhibited the highest positive effect scores under green colour compared with other treatments. Meanwhile, the green colour with menthol stimuli could result in significantly higher α and θ wave power spectral densities in subjects compared with other groups. Correlation analysis results demonstrated a significant correlation between the power spectral density (PSD) of α and θ bands in the parieto‐occipital region and feelings of tranquillity and overall comfort, implying the cross‐modal interaction between menthol odour and green colours. This study provides preliminary neurophysiological evidence for cross‐modal emotional regulation and suggests potential practical implications for packaging design and environmental optimization of menthol‐containing products.