Longitudinal changes in odor identification performance and neuropsychological measures in aging individuals.

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eike I. Wehling ◽  
Daniel Wollschlaeger ◽  
Steven Nordin ◽  
Astri J. Lundervold
2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas K. Olofsson ◽  
Maria Larsson ◽  
Catalina Roa ◽  
Donald A. Wilson ◽  
Erika Jonsson Laukka

AbstractOlfactory identification impairment might indicate future cognitive decline in elderly individuals. An unresolved question is to what extent this effect is dependent on the ApoE-ε4, a genotype associated with risk of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Given the current concern about reproducibility in empirical research, we assessed this issue in a large sample (n = 1637) of older adults (60 – 96 years) from the population-based longitudinal Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K). A hierarchical regression analysis was carried out to determine if a low score on an odor identification test, and the presence of ApoE-ε4, would predict the magnitude of a prospective 6-year change in the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) after controlling for demographic, health-related, and cognitive variables. We found that overall, lower odor identification performance was predictive of cognitive decline, and, as hypothesized, we found that the effect was most pronounced among ApoE-ε4 carriers. Our results from this high-powered sample suggest that in elderly carriers of the ApoE-ε4 allele, odor identification impairment provides an indication of future cognitive decline, which has relevance for the prognosis of AD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1296
Author(s):  
Simonas Jesmanas ◽  
Rymantė Gleiznienė ◽  
Mindaugas Baranauskas ◽  
Vaidas Matijošaitis ◽  
Daiva Rastenytė

Multiple associations between impaired olfactory performance and regional cortical and deep gray matter atrophy have been reported in separate studies of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and of the healthy elderly. We aimed to evaluate such possible associations among these populations in a unified manner. Twenty AD, twenty PD patients’ and twenty healthy age- and sex-matched controls’ odor identification performance was assessed with the Lithuanian adaptation of the Sniffin’ Sticks 12 odor identification test, followed by morphometric gray matter analysis by MRI using FreeSurfer. AD patients had significantly lower cognitive performance than both PD patients and the healthy elderly, as evaluated with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Odor identification performance was significantly worse in AD and PD patients compared with the healthy elderly; AD patients performed slightly worse than PD patients, but the difference was not statistically significant. Among patients with AD, worse odor identification performance was initially correlated with atrophy of multiple cortical and deep gray matter regions known to be involved in olfactory processing, however, only two measures—decreased thicknesses of the right medial and left lateral orbitofrontal cortices—remained significant after adjustment for possible confounders (age, MMSE score, and global cortical thickness). Among patients with PD and the healthy elderly we found no similar statistically significant correlations. Our findings support the key role of the orbitofrontal cortex in odor identification among patients with AD, and suggest that correlations between impaired odor identification performance and regional gray matter atrophy may be relatively more pronounced in AD rather than in PD.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mladenka Tkalčić ◽  
Nika Spasić ◽  
Matea Ivanković ◽  
Alessandra Pokrajac-Bulian ◽  
Daša Bosanac

AbstractResearch results indicate systemic odor identification deficits in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The aims of this study were: 1) to compare the ability to identify different odors and to compare cognitive status among patients with AD, patients with vascular dementia (VaD) and a comparison group of elderly persons; 2) to test the efficiency of olfactory and neuropsychological measures to classify patients and 3) to relate the odor identification ability with cognitive functioning for each group, respectively. The participants were 15 patients with AD, 11 patients with VaD and 30 non-demented elderly persons, age range 58 to 90. To assess olfactory function, we used the Scandinavian Odor-Identification Test. To assess cognitive functions, we used the Dementia Rating Scale-2, the Clock Drawing Test, the Boston Naming Test and the Category Fluency Test. The ANOVA showed that patients with AD correctly identifed significantly fewer odors presented to them compared to patients with VaD and control group. Patients with AD achieved significantly lower scores on all neuropsychological measures compared to the control group and differ in the DRS-2 total score, initiation/perseveration, constructive and naming abilities comparing to patients with VaD. Discriminant analysis showed that category fluency and olfactory identification were the best predictors of AD. Significant correlations were found between the olfactory and initiation/perseveration, memory and animal naming abilities for patients with AD. Differences among patients with AD, VaD and elderly persons exist in their abilities to identify odors. The findings suggest that olfactory functional testing in combination with memory testing are important.


Author(s):  
Valentin A. Schriever ◽  
Liesa Zscheile ◽  
Janine Gellrich ◽  
Thomas Hummel

2021 ◽  
Vol 143 ◽  
pp. 110664
Author(s):  
Janine Gellrich ◽  
Liesa Zscheile ◽  
Claudia Zickmüller ◽  
Valentin A. Schriever

Perception ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 366-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Hoenen ◽  
Oliver T. Wolf ◽  
Bettina M. Pause

The olfactory system and emotional systems are highly intervened and share common neuronal structures. The current study investigates whether emotional (e.g., anger and fear) and physiological (saliva cortisol) stress responses are associated with odor identification ability and hedonic odor judgments (intensity, pleasantness, and unpleasantness). Nineteen men participated in the modified Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and a control session (cycling on a stationary bike). The physiological arousal was similar in both sessions. In each session, participants’ odor identification score was assessed using the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test, and their transient mood was recorded on the dimensions of valence, arousal, anger, and anxiety. Multivariate regression analyses show that an increase of cortisol in the TSST session (as compared with the control session) is associated with better odor identification performance (β = .491) and higher odor intensity ratings (β = .562). However, increased anger in the TSST session (as compared with the control session) is associated with lower odor identification performance (β = −.482). The study shows divergent effects of the emotional and the physiological stress responses, indicating that an increase of cortisol is associated with better odor identification performance, whereas increased anger is associated with poorer odor identification performance.


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