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Olfaction and taste processing in autism.

Loisa Bennetto1, Emily S Kuschner, Susan L Hyman

  • 1Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA. bennetto@psych.rochester.edu

Biological Psychiatry
|June 19, 2007
PubMed
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Individuals with autism show impaired taste and smell identification, particularly for sour and bitter tastes. This suggests potential cortical dysfunction rather than brainstem abnormalities in sensory processing.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Sensory Processing
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background:

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is frequently linked to sensory abnormalities.
  • Chemosensory (taste and smell) functions are understudied in individuals with ASD.
  • Research is needed to understand chemosensory processing in ASD and its neurological underpinnings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate olfactory and taste identification abilities in individuals with ASD.
  • To characterize chemosensory processing in ASD.
  • To differentiate between potential brainstem and cortical dysfunction in ASD.

Main Methods:

  • Compared 21 participants with ASD (ages 10-18) to 27 neurotypical controls.
  • Assessed taste identification using sucrose, NaCl, citric acid, and quinine solutions.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Measured taste detection thresholds with electrogustometry and olfactory identification with 'Sniffin' Sticks'.

    • Main Results:

    • Participants with ASD demonstrated significantly poorer identification of sour tastes and marginally poorer identification of bitter tastes.
    • No differences were found in the identification of sweet and salty tastes between groups.
    • Olfactory identification was significantly impaired in individuals with ASD, while taste detection thresholds were comparable.

    Conclusions:

    • Significant differences in taste and olfactory identification exist in individuals with ASD.
    • Impaired taste identification with normal detection thresholds suggests cortical, not brainstem, dysfunction.
    • Further research is required to elucidate the neurological basis of these chemosensory impairments in ASD.