Cognitive factors in odor detection, odor discrimination, and odor identification tasks

Author: Hedner Margareta   Larsson Maria   Arnold Nancy   Zucco Gesualdo   Hummel Thomas  

Publisher: Routledge Ltd

ISSN: 1380-3395

Source: Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology (Neuropsychology, Developm, Vol.32, Iss.10, 2010-12, pp. : 1062-1067

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine cognitive correlates of olfactory performance across three different tasks. A total of 170 men and women (30-87 years of age) were assessed in olfactory sensitivity, discrimination, and identification. Also, participants were tested in a range of cognitive tests covering executive functioning, semantic memory, and episodic memory. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that proficiency in executive functioning and semantic memory contributed significantly to odor discrimination and identification performance, whereas all of the cognitive factors proved unrelated to performance in the odor threshold test. This pattern of outcome suggests that an individual's cognitive profile exerts a reliable influence on performance in higher order olfactory tasks.