Neuroscience
From today's New York Times:
Sniff Test May Signal Disorders’ Early Stages
By ELIZABETH SVOBODA
Published: August 14, 2007
[snip]
The Sniff Magnitude Test, developed with the aid of a $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, consists of a nasal tube called a cannula attached to a plastic container about the size and shape of a coffee thermos. Chemical vapors inside the canister are released through the tube, exposing subjects to a series of smells, some more objectionable than others.
“People describe some of the smells as skunky or sewerlike,” said Jason Bailie, a University of Cincinnati graduate student working on the test. “There’s also one that smells like banana.”
As patients take whiffs of each new fragrance, sensors in the thermos unit measure the negative pressure the inhalations produce. The size and intensity of these sniffs turn out to be important gauges of olfactory ability. After detecting a strong or disagreeable odor, people with a normal sense of smell take very small sniffs to avoid smelling it. Subjects with an impaired sense of smell, on the other hand, continue taking deep whiffs, because the scent does not register in their brains.
[snip]
The Cincinnati team’s efforts have piqued the interest of other researchers, including Dr. Doty and Alan Hirsch of the Smell and Taste Research and Treatment Foundation, who is using the Sniff test in his clinical practice. “They’ve chosen some very good odors that stimulate the olfactory system effectively,” Dr. Doty said. “This is a very novel approach — it just needs to be tested more broadly.”
Still, Dr. Doty added, the Sniff Magnitude Test may not be the ideal way to assess every patient with cognitive deficits. “Very early in life, we make a connection between an odor and its source,” he said. “We give it a name. If the connection between the name of an odor and the odor itself is what’s breaking down in an Alzheimer’s patient, this test might not be as helpful,” because it does not tell evaluators how a patient identifies and categorizes smells. The Sniff Magnitude Test is likely to raise red flags only if an impending cognitive disorder directly affects a patient’s olfactory abilities.
[snip]
[ ... Read the full article ... ]
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Olfaction And Dementia
Hubbard PS, Esiri MM, Reading M, McShane R, & Nagy Z. Alpha-synuclein pathology in the olfactory pathways of dementia patients. Journal of Anatomy. 2007 Jun 6; [Epub ahead of print] Division of Neuroscience, The Medical School, University of Birmingham,...
- Abstract Of The Day: Smell Identification And Anosmia Screening
Jackman AH & Doty RL. Utility of a three-item smell identification test in detecting olfactory dysfunction. Laryngoscope. 2005 Dec; 115(12): 2209-2212. From the Smell and Taste Center, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hospital...
- Anosmia
Tomorrow's New York Times Sunday Magazine has a short piece written by someone who lost her sense of smell and her effort to try to find it once again:Something's Off By ROBIN MARANTZ HENIG 17 October 2004 The New York Times [Snip] ...
- The Nobel Nose
This year's Nobel Prize for Medicine has been announced: Press release and Nobel website page. Richard Axel and Linda Buck have been awarded the prize "for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system." Here...
- Celebrating Olfaction
Sunday, April 30 is National Sense of Smell Day, and the Sense of Smell Institute is ready. Their web site includes bibliographies on topics like odor perception and the brain and human behavior, mood, and emotion (aka aroma-chology). Plus fun activities...
Neuroscience
Dementia and the Sniff Magnitude Test
From today's New York Times:
Sniff Test May Signal Disorders’ Early Stages
By ELIZABETH SVOBODA
Published: August 14, 2007
[snip]
The Sniff Magnitude Test, developed with the aid of a $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, consists of a nasal tube called a cannula attached to a plastic container about the size and shape of a coffee thermos. Chemical vapors inside the canister are released through the tube, exposing subjects to a series of smells, some more objectionable than others.
“People describe some of the smells as skunky or sewerlike,” said Jason Bailie, a University of Cincinnati graduate student working on the test. “There’s also one that smells like banana.”
As patients take whiffs of each new fragrance, sensors in the thermos unit measure the negative pressure the inhalations produce. The size and intensity of these sniffs turn out to be important gauges of olfactory ability. After detecting a strong or disagreeable odor, people with a normal sense of smell take very small sniffs to avoid smelling it. Subjects with an impaired sense of smell, on the other hand, continue taking deep whiffs, because the scent does not register in their brains.
[snip]
The Cincinnati team’s efforts have piqued the interest of other researchers, including Dr. Doty and Alan Hirsch of the Smell and Taste Research and Treatment Foundation, who is using the Sniff test in his clinical practice. “They’ve chosen some very good odors that stimulate the olfactory system effectively,” Dr. Doty said. “This is a very novel approach — it just needs to be tested more broadly.”
Still, Dr. Doty added, the Sniff Magnitude Test may not be the ideal way to assess every patient with cognitive deficits. “Very early in life, we make a connection between an odor and its source,” he said. “We give it a name. If the connection between the name of an odor and the odor itself is what’s breaking down in an Alzheimer’s patient, this test might not be as helpful,” because it does not tell evaluators how a patient identifies and categorizes smells. The Sniff Magnitude Test is likely to raise red flags only if an impending cognitive disorder directly affects a patient’s olfactory abilities.
[snip]
[ ... Read the full article ... ]
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Olfaction And Dementia
Hubbard PS, Esiri MM, Reading M, McShane R, & Nagy Z. Alpha-synuclein pathology in the olfactory pathways of dementia patients. Journal of Anatomy. 2007 Jun 6; [Epub ahead of print] Division of Neuroscience, The Medical School, University of Birmingham,...
- Abstract Of The Day: Smell Identification And Anosmia Screening
Jackman AH & Doty RL. Utility of a three-item smell identification test in detecting olfactory dysfunction. Laryngoscope. 2005 Dec; 115(12): 2209-2212. From the Smell and Taste Center, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hospital...
- Anosmia
Tomorrow's New York Times Sunday Magazine has a short piece written by someone who lost her sense of smell and her effort to try to find it once again:Something's Off By ROBIN MARANTZ HENIG 17 October 2004 The New York Times [Snip] ...
- The Nobel Nose
This year's Nobel Prize for Medicine has been announced: Press release and Nobel website page. Richard Axel and Linda Buck have been awarded the prize "for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system." Here...
- Celebrating Olfaction
Sunday, April 30 is National Sense of Smell Day, and the Sense of Smell Institute is ready. Their web site includes bibliographies on topics like odor perception and the brain and human behavior, mood, and emotion (aka aroma-chology). Plus fun activities...