Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Sensory- and memory-mediated olfactory dysfunction in Huntington's disease

S Nordin1, J S Paulsen, C Murphy

  • 1University of California Medical Center, San Diego 92103, USA.

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS
|May 1, 1995
PubMed
Summary

Huntington's disease (HD) patients show impaired olfactory functions, particularly odor identification, due to reduced detection sensitivity. However, odor recognition memory remains unaffected.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

A qualitative study exploring the views of healthcare professionals regarding patients who have difficulty swallowing medicines.

International journal of clinical pharmacy·2026
Same author

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as an adjunct marker in maternal sepsis: a retrospective case-control study (2020-2025).

International journal of obstetric anesthesia·2026
Same author

Anaesthetic considerations for delivery in an obstetric patient with a RYR1 gene variant: a case report.

International journal of obstetric anesthesia·2025
Same author

Paradoxical bradycardia as a sign of silent bleeding resulting in a pelvic haematoma after an elective hernia repair.

Anaesthesia reports·2025
Same author

Respiratory disease in pregnancy.

BJA education·2025
Same author

Author Correction: ROBIN: Reference observatory of basins for international hydrological climate change detection.

Scientific data·2025

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Olfactory Research
  • Neurodegenerative Diseases

Background:

  • Huntington's disease (HD) involves neuropathology affecting brain regions integral to olfactory processing.
  • Understanding the specific impact of HD on olfactory function is crucial for assessing disease progression and potential therapeutic targets.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate which olfactory functions are most impaired in Huntington's disease (HD) patients.
  • To determine if olfactory dysfunction in HD relates to sensitivity or cognitive deficits.
  • To compare olfactory deficits with other sensory modalities like taste and vision.

Main Methods:

  • A comparative study involving HD patients and age-, gender-, and education-matched controls.
  • Assessment of olfactory functions including absolute detection, intensity and quality discrimination, recognition memory, and identification (lexical and picture-based).

Related Experiment Videos

  • Taste and vision were used as control sensory modalities.

    • Main Results:

    • HD patients exhibited significant impairments in absolute odor detection, intensity discrimination, quality discrimination, and odor identification.
    • Odor recognition memory was not significantly affected in HD patients compared to controls.
    • Impaired odor identification, intensity discrimination, and quality discrimination were largely explained by reduced odor detection sensitivity.

    Conclusions:

    • Huntington's disease significantly impacts multiple aspects of olfactory processing, with odor identification being the most affected function.
    • Olfactory dysfunction in HD is primarily linked to reduced sensory detection sensitivity rather than cognitive memory deficits.
    • These findings highlight the vulnerability of the olfactory system in HD and suggest potential biomarkers for the disease.