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Author Spotlight: Assessing the Olfactory Effects of Airborne Pollutants — Buried Food and Social Odor Tests
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Chemosensory decrease in different forms of olfactory dysfunction.

Chloé Migneault-Bouchard1, Julien Wen Hsieh2,3, Marianne Hugentobler3

  • 1Research Chair in Chemosensory Neuroanatomy, Department of Anatomy, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada.

Journal of Neurology
|October 6, 2019
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Olfactory dysfunction (OD) negatively impacts taste and trigeminal senses, with decline proportional to smell loss. These chemical senses decrease rather than compensate in individuals with smell disorders.

Keywords:
Chemical sensesChemosensory interactionGustatoryOlfactoryTrigeminal

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Sensory Science
  • Otorhinolaryngology

Background:

  • Olfactory dysfunction (OD) affects a significant portion of the population.
  • The interplay between the three main chemical senses (olfaction, gustation, and trigeminal sensation) is not fully understood.
  • Previous research often focuses on individual sensory modalities rather than their interconnectedness.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of olfactory dysfunction on gustation and the intranasal trigeminal system.
  • To determine if the cause or age influences the relationship between olfactory, gustatory, and trigeminal functions.
  • To explore the compensatory mechanisms, or lack thereof, in chemical senses following olfactory impairment.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective cross-sectional study of 178 participants with various causes of OD.
  • Olfactory function assessed using the Sniffin' Sticks test.
  • Gustatory function evaluated with the Taste Strips test and trigeminal sensitivity using a lateralization task.

Main Results:

  • Olfactory impairment severity varied by OD cause (posttraumatic OD showed lower function) but not by age.
  • Gustatory and trigeminal sensitivity were influenced by age, not the cause of OD.
  • Significant partial correlations revealed a decrease in taste and trigeminal function proportional to the degree of olfactory dysfunction, after controlling for age.

Conclusions:

  • The three human chemical senses are interconnected.
  • In cases of olfactory dysfunction, gustation and trigeminal function tend to decrease rather than compensate.
  • Findings have clinical implications for managing smell and taste disorders, highlighting the decline of remaining senses.