Rachel Herz, PhD has been conducting research on olfaction, emotion and cognition since 1990. She has published over 80 original research papers, co-edited college textbooks and received a number of grants and prestigious awards.
Since 2000 Dr. Herz has been on the faculty at Brown University and she also teaches at Boston College. Dr. Herz’s research has shown how odor-evoked memory is emotionally unique compared to other kinds of memory experiences, how emotional associations can change odor perception, and how odors can be conditioned to emotions and subsequently influence motivated behavior. Her work also deals with how language can affect odor perception and her laboratory has empirically demonstrated the first instance of olfactory illusions created by words alone. A third area of olfactory research concerns the role of body-odor and fragrance in heterosexual attraction. Her most recent work involves investigating food related emotions and the sensory psychology of eating.
College Textbooks
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Academic Work
Sample Research Publications:
The influence of circadian timing on odor detection- 2018. Chemical Senses, 43, 45-51. Herz, R.S., Van Reen, E., Barker, D., Hilditch, C., Bartz, A. & Carskadon, M.A. 2018).
The (non)-effect of induced emotion on desire for different types of foods-2017. Food Quality and Preference, 62, 214-17. Ershadi, M., Russell, J.A. & Herz, R.S.
The role of odor-evoked memory in psychological and physiological health- 2016. Brain Sciences, 6(3),22. doi:10.3390/brainsci6030022. Herz, R. S.
Birth of a Neurogastronomy Nation- 2016. Chemical Senses, 41, 101-103. Herz, R.S.
Verbal priming and taste sensitivity make moral transgressions gross-2014. Behavioral Neuroscience, 128, 20-28. Herz, R.S.
Copyright © 2016 Rachel Herz. All rights reserved.