Demographic and cognitive predictors of cued odor identification: evidence from a population-based study.

This study investigated demographic and cognitive correlates of cued odor identification in a population-based sample from the Betula project: 1906 healthy adults varying in age from 45 to 90 years were assessed in a number of tasks tapping various cognitive domains, including cognitive speed, semantic memory and executive functioning. The results revealed a gradual and linear deterioration in cued odor identification across the adult life span. Overall, females identified more odors than men, although men and women performed at the same level in the oldest age cohort (85-90 years). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that age, sex, education, cognitive speed and vocabulary were reliable correlates of performance in the odor identification task. In addition, age-related deficits in the included demographic and cognitive variables could not fully account for the observed age-related impairment in identification, suggesting that additional factors are underlying the observed deterioration. Likely candidates here are sensory abilities such as olfactory detection and discrimination.

[1]  J. Corwin,et al.  Workplace, age, and sex as mediators of olfactory function: data from the National Geographic Smell Survey. , 1995, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[2]  M. Laska,et al.  Odor identification, consistency of label use, olfactory threshold and their relationships to odor memory over the human lifespan. , 1999, Chemical senses.

[3]  T. Salthouse.  Aging and measures of processing speed , 2000, Biological Psychology.

[4]  G. Brand,et al.  Sex Differences in Human Olfaction: Between Evidence and Enigma , 2001, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. B, Comparative and physiological psychology.

[5]  C. Murphy,et al.  Olfactory acuity and cognitive function converge in older adulthood: support for the common cause hypothesis. , 2002, Psychology and aging.

[6]  W S Cain,et al.  Testing olfaction in a clinical setting. , 1989, Ear, nose, & throat journal.

[7]  J. Price,et al.  The distribution of tangles, plaques and related immunohistochemical markers in healthy aging and Alzheimer's disease , 1991, Neurobiology of Aging.

[8]  L. Nyberg,et al.  The betula prospective cohort study: Memory, health, and aging , 1997 .

[9]  Mari Backman,et al.  Age-related differences in episodic odour recognition: the role of access to specific odour names. , 1997 .

[10]  K. Marder,et al.  Olfactory deficits in patients with mild cognitive impairment predict Alzheimer's disease at follow-up. , 2000, The American journal of psychiatry.

[11]  L. Klimek,et al.  Multicenter investigation of 1,036 subjects using a standardized method for the assessment of olfactory function combining tests of odor identification, odor discrimination, and olfactory thresholds , 2000, European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology.

[12]  L. Bäckman,et al.  Age-related differences in episodic odour recognition: the role of access to specific odour names. , 1997, Memory.

[13]  R. Klein,et al.  Prevalence of olfactory impairment in older adults. , 2002, JAMA.

[14]  L Nyberg,et al.  Age differences in episodic memory, semantic memory, and priming: relationships to demographic, intellectual, and biological factors. , 1996, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[15]  L. Johansson,et al.  Prevalence of Olfactory Dysfunction: The Skövde Population‐Based Study , 2004, The Laryngoscope.

[16]  D. Restrepo,et al.  The Use of Olfactory Receptor Neurons (ORNs) from Biopsies to Study Changes in Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases a , 1998, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[17]  S. Nordin,et al.  Perceptual Learning in Olfaction Professional Wine Tasters versus Controls , 1997, Physiology & Behavior.

[18]  S. Folstein,et al.  "Mini-mental state". A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. , 1975, Journal of psychiatric research.

[19]  P. Kent,et al.  The aging olfactory epithelium: Neurogenesis, response to damage, and odorant-induced activity , 1996, International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience.

[20]  R. Doty,et al.  Endocrine, cardiovascular, and psychological correlated of olfactory sensitivity changes during the human menstrual cycle. , 1981, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[21]  T. Kovács,et al.  Mechanisms of olfactory dysfunction in aging and neurodegenerative disorders , 2004, Ageing Research Reviews.

[22]  N. Pedersen,et al.  Odor identification: influences of age, gender, cognition, and personality. , 2000, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[23]  R. Doty,et al.  Smell identification ability: changes with age. , 1984, Science.

[24]  W. Cain.  Odor identification by males and females: Predictions vs performance. , 1982 .

[25]  A. Economou.  Olfactory identification in elderly Greek people in relation to memory and attention measures. , 2003, Archives of gerontology and geriatrics.

[26]  E. Metter,et al.  Longitudinal changes in smell identification. , 1996, The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences.

[27]  P. Sheehe,et al.  Assessment of an abbreviated odorant identification task for children: a rapid screening device for schools and clinics , 1995, Acta paediatrica.

[28]  W S Cain,et al.  Olfactory sensitivity: reliability, generality, and association with aging. , 1991, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[29]  J. Covington,et al.  Olfactory event-related potentials: older males demonstrate the greatest deficits. , 1997, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[30]  L. Bäckman,et al.  Differential sex effects in olfactory functioning: The role of verbal processing , 2002, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

[31]  T. Salthouse.  The processing-speed theory of adult age differences in cognition. , 1996, Psychological review.

[32]  D. Sparks,et al.  Patterns of adrenergic and peptidergic innervation in human olfactory mucosa: Age‐related trends , 1993, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[33]  M. Lezak.  Neuropsychological assessment, 3rd ed. , 1995 .

[34]  D. Yousem,et al.  Olfactory Bulb and Tract and Temporal Lobe Volumes: Normative Data across Decades a , 1998, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[35]  M. Lehman,et al.  Human olfactory biopsy. The influence of age and receptor distribution. , 1992, Archives of otolaryngology--head & neck surgery.

[36]  L. Bäckman,et al.  Odor Identification in Old Age: Demographic, Sensory and Cognitive Correlates , 2005, Neuropsychology, development, and cognition. Section B, Aging, neuropsychology and cognition.

[37]  W. Cain,et al.  Odor identification: perceptual and semantic dimensions. , 1998, Chemical senses.

[38]  M. Bleecker,et al.  Predictors of verbal fluency (FAS) in the healthy elderly. , 1990, Journal of clinical psychology.

[39]  Gender differences in the retention of Swahili names for unfamiliar odors. , 2002, Chemical senses.

[40]  Odor identification in normal aging and early Alzheimer's disease: effects of retrieval support. , 1999, Neuropsychology.

[41]  M. Larsson,et al.  Semantic factors in episodic recognition of common odors in early and late adulthood: a review. , 1997, Chemical senses.

[42]  M. Linn,et al.  Gender differences in verbal ability: A meta-analysis. , 1988 .

[43]  J. C. Stevens,et al.  Old-age deficits in the sense of smell as gauged by thresholds, magnitude matching, and odor identification. , 1987, Psychology and aging.

[44]  K. P. Bhatnagar,et al.  Human Olfactory Bulb: Aging of Glomeruli and Mitral Cells and a Search for the Accessory Olfactory Bulb a , 1998, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[45]  S. Nordin,et al.  The Scandinavian Odor-Identification Test: development, reliability, validity and normative data. , 1998, Acta oto-laryngologica.