Impaired sensory and cognitive olfactory function in questionable Alzheimer's disease.

S Nordin, C Murphy - Neuropsychology, 1996 - psycnet.apa.org
Neuropsychology, 1996psycnet.apa.org
The possibility of olfactory function being affected at a very early stage of Alzheimer's
disease (AD) was investigated by comparing patients with questionable AD with normal
controls on odor and taste detection and short-term odor-and visual-recognition memory,
including familiarity ratings. Taste and vision were studied for comparison. The questionable
AD patients compared with the controls had higher thresholds for odor but not for taste,
performed significantly poorer on recognition memory for odors and visual stimuli, and …
Abstract
The possibility of olfactory function being affected at a very early stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD) was investigated by comparing patients with questionable AD with normal controls on odor and taste detection and short-term odor-and visual-recognition memory, including familiarity ratings. Taste and vision were studied for comparison. The questionable AD patients compared with the controls had higher thresholds for odor but not for taste, performed significantly poorer on recognition memory for odors and visual stimuli, and tended to be less familiar with odors but not with visual stimuli. The poor odor recognition memory was not found to be explained by poor odor sensitivity but may partly be due to poor long-term memory reflected by the familiarity ratings. Although further research is required, the findings indicate that performance on olfactory mediated tasks may contribute to early diagnosis of AD.(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
American Psychological Association