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Bratman GN, Bembibre C, Daily GC, Doty RL, Hummel T, Jacobs LF, Kahn PH, Lashus C, Majid A, Miller JD, Oleszkiewicz A, Olvera-Alvarez H, Parma V, Riederer AM, Sieber NL, Williams J, Xiao J, Yu CP, Spengler JD. Nature and human well-being: The olfactory pathway. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadn3028. [PMID: 38748806 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adn3028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
The world is undergoing massive atmospheric and ecological change, driving unprecedented challenges to human well-being. Olfaction is a key sensory system through which these impacts occur. The sense of smell influences quality of and satisfaction with life, emotion, emotion regulation, cognitive function, social interactions, dietary choices, stress, and depressive symptoms. Exposures via the olfactory pathway can also lead to (anti-)inflammatory outcomes. Increased understanding is needed regarding the ways in which odorants generated by nature (i.e., natural olfactory environments) affect human well-being. With perspectives from a range of health, social, and natural sciences, we provide an overview of this unique sensory system, four consensus statements regarding olfaction and the environment, and a conceptual framework that integrates the olfactory pathway into an understanding of the effects of natural environments on human well-being. We then discuss how this framework can contribute to better accounting of the impacts of policy and land-use decision-making on natural olfactory environments and, in turn, on planetary health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory N Bratman
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Cecilia Bembibre
- Institute for Sustainable Heritage, University College London, London, UK
| | - Gretchen C Daily
- Natural Capital Project, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Woods Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Richard L Doty
- Smell and Taste Center, Department of Otorhinolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Thomas Hummel
- Interdisciplinary Center Smell and Taste, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Lucia F Jacobs
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Peter H Kahn
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Connor Lashus
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Asifa Majid
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Anna Oleszkiewicz
- Interdisciplinary Center Smell and Taste, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Wrocław, Poland
| | | | | | - Anne M Riederer
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Nancy Long Sieber
- T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Jonathan Williams
- Air Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Climate and Atmosphere Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Jieling Xiao
- College of Architecture, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK
| | - Chia-Pin Yu
- School of Forestry and Resource Conservation, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
- The Experimental Forest, College of Bio-Resources and Agriculture, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
| | - John D Spengler
- T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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Abrams KL, Ward DA, Sabiniewicz A, Hummel T. Olfaction evaluation in dogs with sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome. Vet Ophthalmol 2024; 27:127-138. [PMID: 37399129 DOI: 10.1111/vop.13121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Revised: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/09/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To evaluate olfaction in dogs with sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome (SARDS) compared with sighted dogs and blind dogs without SARDS as control groups. ANIMALS STUDIED Forty client-owned dogs. PROCEDURE Olfactory threshold testing was performed on three groups: SARDS, sighted, and blind/non-SARDS using eugenol as the test odorant. The olfactory threshold was determined when subjects indicated the detection of a specific eugenol concentration with behavioral responses. Olfactory threshold, age, body weight, and environmental room factors were evaluated. RESULTS Sixteen dogs with SARDS, 12 sighted dogs, and 12 blind/non-SARDS dogs demonstrated mean olfactory threshold pen numbers of 2.8 (SD = 1.4), 13.8 (SD = 1.4), and 13.4 (SD = 1.1), respectively, which correspond to actual mean concentrations of 0.017 g/mL, 1.7 × 10-13 g/mL and 4.26 × 10-13 g/mL, respectively. Dogs with SARDS had significantly poorer olfactory threshold scores compared with the two control groups (p < .001), with no difference between the control groups (p = .5). Age, weight, and room environment did not differ between the three groups. CONCLUSIONS Dogs with SARDS have severely decreased olfaction capabilities compared with sighted dogs and blind/non-SARDS dogs. This finding supports the suspicion that SARDS is a systemic disease causing blindness, endocrinopathy, and hyposmia. Since the molecular pathways are similar in photoreceptors, olfactory receptors, and steroidogenesis with all using G-protein coupled receptors in the cell membrane, the cause of SARDS may exist at the G-protein associated interactions with intracellular cyclic nucleotides. Further investigations into G-protein coupled receptors pathway and canine olfactory receptor genes in SARDS patients may be valuable in revealing the cause of SARDS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth L Abrams
- Veterinary Ophthalmology Services, North Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Daniel A Ward
- Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Agnieszka Sabiniewicz
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Smell and Taste Clinic, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Thomas Hummel
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Smell and Taste Clinic, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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Lee BK, Mayhew EJ, Sanchez-Lengeling B, Wei JN, Qian WW, Little KA, Andres M, Nguyen BB, Moloy T, Yasonik J, Parker JK, Gerkin RC, Mainland JD, Wiltschko AB. A principal odor map unifies diverse tasks in olfactory perception. Science 2023; 381:999-1006. [PMID: 37651511 DOI: 10.1126/science.ade4401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
Mapping molecular structure to odor perception is a key challenge in olfaction. We used graph neural networks to generate a principal odor map (POM) that preserves perceptual relationships and enables odor quality prediction for previously uncharacterized odorants. The model was as reliable as a human in describing odor quality: On a prospective validation set of 400 out-of-sample odorants, the model-generated odor profile more closely matched the trained panel mean than did the median panelist. By applying simple, interpretable, theoretically rooted transformations, the POM outperformed chemoinformatic models on several other odor prediction tasks, indicating that the POM successfully encoded a generalized map of structure-odor relationships. This approach broadly enables odor prediction and paves the way toward digitizing odors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian K Lee
- Google Research, Brain Team, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Emily J Mayhew
- Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | | | | | - Wesley W Qian
- Google Research, Brain Team, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Osmo Labs, PBC, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | | | | | | | - Theresa Moloy
- Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Jacob Yasonik
- Google Research, Brain Team, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Osmo Labs, PBC, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Jane K Parker
- Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, UK
| | - Richard C Gerkin
- Google Research, Brain Team, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Osmo Labs, PBC, Cambridge, MA, USA
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Joel D Mainland
- Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Kern DW, Kaufmann GT, Hummer TA, Schumm LP, Wroblewski KE, Pinto JM, McClintock MK. Androstadienone sensitivity is associated with attention to emotions, social interactions, and sexual behavior in older U.S. adults. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0280082. [PMID: 36638090 PMCID: PMC9838868 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Δ 4,16-androstadien-3-one (androstadienone) is a putative human pheromone often linked to sexual attraction in young adults, although specific associations with sexual behavior are not yet established. Androstadienone also serves a broader social-emotional function beyond the sexual domain, specifically tuning the brain to efficiently process emotional information. Whether these effects persist throughout the lifespan into post-reproductive life is unknown. In a laboratory study of older adults, those with greater androstadienone odor sensitivity paid greater attention to subliminal emotional information, specifically, angry faces (p = 0.05), with a similar relationship to happy faces. In contrast, the physical odor n-butanol (a control) did not affect emotional attention (p = 0.49). We then extended this laboratory research and determined whether sensitivity to androstadienone affects the everyday lives of older adults by measuring their social and sexual behavior. In this second study, we surveyed in a nationally representative sample of US older adults living in their homes (National Social Life and Aging Project, 62-90 years; n = 2,086), along with their sensitivity to androstadienone, general olfactory function, health and demographics. Greater sensitivity to androstadienone was associated with richer social lives: having more friends, increased communication with close friends and family, and more participation in organized social events and volunteer activities (all p's ≤ 0.05, generalized linear models, adjusted for age and gender). It was also associated with more recent sexual activity, more frequent sexual thoughts, and viewing sex as an important part of life (all p's ≤ 0.05). General olfactory function did not explain these associations, supporting a specialized function for this pheromone during everyday life, and expanding its role to social life as well as sexual behavior, likely mediated by enhanced attention to emotional information.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W. Kern
- Isidore Newman School, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Gabriel T. Kaufmann
- Pritzker School of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Tom A. Hummer
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America
| | - L. Philip Schumm
- Department of Public Health Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Kristen E. Wroblewski
- Department of Public Health Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Jayant M. Pinto
- Department of Surgery, Section of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Martha K. McClintock
- Department of Psychology, The Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Bloody olfaction? Confounding associations of sex and age on the influence of blood parameters and body weight on odor identification performance in healthy adults. Physiol Behav 2022; 254:113907. [PMID: 35817126 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.113907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Revised: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Olfactory function and nutrition are closely related and may influence each other via metabolic parameters. However, the relationship between nutritional blood parameters and olfactory performance is still unclear. Inconclusive findings exist for specific blood parameters. In this extensive analysis, we examined the relationship between olfactory performance, measured with MONEX-40, as well as intensity and pleasantness ratings with 38 metabolic blood parameters, age, sex, and the anthropometric measurements body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (BFP). Therefore, we included data of 418 healthy, well-phenotyped Caucasians of the Enable cohort. We replicated age-dependent olfactory identification scores (p < 0.001) and found slight evidence for a body fat dependence measured with BFP (BF10 = 10.466). We further identified a sex difference only in middle-aged adults (p < 0.001) that could be explained by environmental factors. Several blood parameters correlated significantly with the MONEX-40 score (p < 0.05 - p < 0.001). However, these effects diminished after adjusting for sex and age (p > 0.9) that were identified as confounders. The same applies for BFP. In addition, no parameters were identified to correlate significantly with perceived olfactory intensity or pleasantness score if controlled for sex and age (p > 0.08). Our results suggest that metabolic blood parameters are not related to olfactory identification performance in a relevant manner and highlight the importance of controlling for sex and age in chemosensory research.
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Bhutani S, McClain AC. Body Fat Moderates the Association of Olfactory Dysfunction with Dietary Intake in U.S. Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of NHANES 2013-2014. Nutrients 2022; 14:nu14153178. [PMID: 35956353 PMCID: PMC9370378 DOI: 10.3390/nu14153178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Revised: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Obesity relates to impaired olfactory function. Abnormal olfactory function is also associated with poor diet; however, whether obesity-related markers shape this relationship is unknown. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis (n = 1415, age > 40 years) of NHANES 2013−2014 examined body fat percent (BF%) and waist circumference (WC) as moderators of the relationship between olfactory function and diet. The olfactory function test identified adults with olfactory dysfunction (OD) or normal olfaction (NO). Validated 24 h recall captured nutrient intake and Healthy Eating Index-2010 scores. BF% and WC were measured. We tested adjusted linear regression models, with an interaction term between olfactory function and BF%/WC, for each nutrient or HEI score, and reported coefficients (β), standard errors (SE), and p-values for significant interaction terms. Results: In OD (9.5%; mean age 50.9 years, 95% CI 49.6, 52.2) compared with NO (mean age 49.3 years, 95% CI 48.8, 49.9), higher BF% was associated with higher intake of saturated fat (β (SE): 0.2 (0.1) g; p = 0.06) and percent of total calories from total fat (0.2 (0.1); p = 0.07), saturated (0.1 (0.004); p = 0.02), and monounsaturated fat (0.1 (0.1); p = 0.08); lower percent of total calories from carbohydrates (−0.2 (0.1); p = 0.09) and mg of sodium (−17.8 (09.6); p = 0.08); and a higher (healthier) refined grain score (0.1 (0.1); p = 0.04). Higher WC was associated with higher refined grain scores (0.01 (0.02); p = 0.01) in OD. Conclusion: BF% may shape dietary intake and quality in OD. Longitudinal studies are needed to elucidate the directionality of these relationships and develop strategies to improve dietary intake among OD.
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Humans and the Olfactory Environment: A Case of Gene-Culture Coevolution? PSYCH 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/psych4020027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
As hunter-gatherers, humans used their sense of smell to identify plants and animals, to find their way within a foraging area, or to distinguish each other by gender, age, kinship, or social dominance. Because women gathered while men hunted, the sexes evolved different sensitivities to plant and animal odors. They also ended up emitting different odors. Male odors served to intimidate rival males or assert dominance. With the rise of farming and sedentism, humans no longer needed their sense of smell to find elusive food sources or to orient themselves within a large area. Odors now came from a narrower range of plants and animals. Meanwhile, body odor was removed through bathing to facilitate interactions in enclosed spaces. This new phenotype became the template for the evolution of a new genotype: less sensitivity to odors of wild plants and animals, lower emissions of male odors, and a more negative response to them. Further change came with the development of fragrances to reodorize the body and the home. This new olfactory environment coevolved with the ability to represent odors in the mind, notably for storage in memory, for vicarious re-experiencing, or for sharing with other people through speech and writing.
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Abeywickrema S, Ginieis R, Oey I, Peng M. Olfactory and Gustatory Supra-Threshold Sensitivities Are Linked to Ad Libitum Snack Choice. Foods 2022; 11:foods11060799. [PMID: 35327222 PMCID: PMC8947741 DOI: 10.3390/foods11060799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Snacking is a common eating habit in the modern food environment. Individual snack choices vary substantially, with sweet versus savoury snacks linked to differential health outcomes. The role of olfactory and gustatory sensitivities in snack choices and consumption is yet to be tested. A total of 70 Caucasian young males (age: 21−39 years; BMI: 20.5−40.5 kg∙m−2) were tested for their supra-threshold sensitivities to sweet and savoury associated odours and tastants (vanillin, methional; sucrose, NaCl). The participants also attended an ad libitum task in which their intakes of sweet and savoury snacks were recorded and analysed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to test for relationships between odour/taste sensitivities and sweet versus savoury snack intake. Results indicated that individual sensitivities to sweet-associated stimuli (e.g., vanillin, sucrose) were negatively linked with intake of the congruent (e.g., sweet) snacks and positively linked with incongruent (e.g., savoury) snacks (p < 0.05). These differences were reflected by energy intake rather than consumption weight (p > 0.05). This study outlines the fundamental roles of olfactory and gustatory sensitivities in snack choices and offers novel insights into inter-individual variability in snack consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sashie Abeywickrema
- Sensory Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Food Science, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; (S.A.); (R.G.); (I.O.)
| | - Rachel Ginieis
- Sensory Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Food Science, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; (S.A.); (R.G.); (I.O.)
| | - Indrawati Oey
- Sensory Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Food Science, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; (S.A.); (R.G.); (I.O.)
- Riddet Institute, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand
| | - Mei Peng
- Sensory Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Food Science, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; (S.A.); (R.G.); (I.O.)
- Riddet Institute, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand
- Correspondence:
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Ekström IA, Rizzuto D, Grande G, Bellander T, Laukka EJ. Environmental Air Pollution and Olfactory Decline in Aging. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2022; 130:27005. [PMID: 35139319 PMCID: PMC8828267 DOI: 10.1289/ehp9563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2021] [Revised: 12/08/2021] [Accepted: 12/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Olfactory impairment is increasingly common with older age, which may be in part explained by cumulative effects of exposure to inhaled toxins. However, population-based studies investigating the relationship between air pollution and olfactory ability are scarce. OBJECTIVES We aimed to investigate associations between exposure to common air pollutants and longitudinal change in odor identification. METHODS Our study of 2,468 participants (mean age=72.3y; 61.1% female), of which 1,774 participants (mean age=70.5y; 61.9% female) had at least two olfactory assessments over 12 y of follow-up from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K), Stockholm, Sweden. Participants were free from cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative disease at baseline. Odor identification ability was assessed with Sniffin' Sticks. Change in olfactory performance was estimated with linear mixed models. Exposure to two major airborne pollutants [particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5μm (PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides (NOx)] for the 5 y preceding baseline was assessed using spatiotemporal dispersion models for outdoor levels at residential addresses. RESULTS Participants showed significant decline in odor identification ability for each year in the study {β=-0.20 [95% confidence interval (CI): -0.22, 0.18; p<0.001]}. After adjustment for all covariates, residents of third [β=-0.09 (95% CI: -0.14, -0.04; p<0.001)] and fourth [β=-0.07 (95% CI: -0.12, -0.02; p=0.005)] exposure quartiles of PM2.5 had faster rates of olfactory decline than residents from the first quartile. Similar results were observed for the third [β=-0.05 (95% CI: -0.10, -0.01; p=0.029)] and fourth [β=-0.07 (95% CI: -0.11, -0.02; p=0.006) quartiles of NOx]. DISCUSSION Our results suggest an association between air pollution exposure and subsequent olfactory decline. We speculate that cumulative effects of airborne pollutants on the olfactory system may be one underlying cause of olfactory impairment in aging. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP9563.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ingrid A Ekström
- Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Debora Rizzuto
- Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Stockholm Gerontology Research Center, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Giulia Grande
- Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Tom Bellander
- Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
- Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, Stockholm Region, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Erika J Laukka
- Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Stockholm Gerontology Research Center, Stockholm, Sweden
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Li B, Kamarck ML, Peng Q, Lim FL, Keller A, Smeets MAM, Mainland JD, Wang S. From musk to body odor: Decoding olfaction through genetic variation. PLoS Genet 2022; 18:e1009564. [PMID: 35113854 PMCID: PMC8812863 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The olfactory system combines input from multiple receptor types to represent odor information, but there are few explicit examples relating olfactory receptor (OR) activity patterns to odor perception. To uncover these relationships, we performed genome-wide scans on odor-perception phenotypes for ten odors in 1000 Han Chinese and validated results for six of these odors in an ethnically diverse population (n = 364). In both populations, consistent with previous studies, we replicated three previously reported associations (β-ionone/OR5A1, androstenone/OR7D4, cis-3-hexen-1-ol/OR2J3 LD-band), but not for odors containing aldehydes, suggesting that olfactory phenotype/genotype studies are robust across populations. Two novel associations between an OR and odor perception contribute to our understanding of olfactory coding. First, we found a SNP in OR51B2 that associated with trans-3-methyl-2-hexenoic acid, a key component of human underarm odor. Second, we found two linked SNPs associated with the musk Galaxolide in a novel musk receptor, OR4D6, which is also the first human OR shown to drive specific anosmia to a musk compound. We noticed that SNPs detected for odor intensity were enriched with amino acid substitutions, implying functional changes of odor receptors. Furthermore, we also found that the derived alleles of the SNPs tend to be associated with reduced odor intensity, supporting the hypothesis that the primate olfactory gene repertoire has degenerated over time. This study provides information about coding for human body odor, and gives us insight into broader mechanisms of olfactory coding, such as how differential OR activation can converge on a similar percept.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bingjie Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- Department of Skin and Cosmetics Research, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Marissa L. Kamarck
- Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Qianqian Peng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Fei-Ling Lim
- Unilever Research & Development, Colworth, United Kingdom
| | - Andreas Keller
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York State, United States of America
| | | | - Joel D. Mainland
- Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Sijia Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
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AKHTAR MUHAMMADSHOAIB, ASHINO RYUICHI, OOTA HIROKI, ISHIDA HAJIME, NIIMURA YOSHIHITO, TOUHARA KAZUSHIGE, MELIN AMANDAD, KAWAMURA SHOJI. Genetic variation of olfactory receptor gene family in a Japanese population. ANTHROPOL SCI 2022. [DOI: 10.1537/ase.211024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- MUHAMMAD SHOAIB AKHTAR
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa
| | - RYUICHI ASHINO
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa
| | - HIROKI OOTA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo
| | - HAJIME ISHIDA
- Department of Human Biology and Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara
| | - YOSHIHITO NIIMURA
- Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki
| | - KAZUSHIGE TOUHARA
- Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo
| | - AMANDA D. MELIN
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology & Department of Medical Genetics, University of Calgary, Calgary
| | - SHOJI KAWAMURA
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa
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African Gene Flow Reduces Beta-Ionone Anosmia/Hyposmia Prevalence in Admixed Malagasy Populations. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11111405. [PMID: 34827404 PMCID: PMC8615941 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11111405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Revised: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
While recent advances in genetics make it possible to follow the genetic exchanges between populations and their phenotypic consequences, the impact of the genetic exchanges on the sensory perception of populations has yet to be explored. From this perspective, the present study investigated the consequences of African gene flow on odor perception in a Malagasy population with a predominantly East Asian genetic background. To this end, we combined psychophysical tests with genotype data of 235 individuals who were asked to smell the odorant molecule beta-ionone (βI). Results showed that in this population the ancestry of the OR5A1 gene significantly influences the ability to detect βI. At the individual level, African ancestry significantly protects against specific anosmia/hyposmia due to the higher frequency of the functional gene (OR ratios = 14, CI: 1.8–110, p-value = 0.012). At the population level, African introgression decreased the prevalence of specific anosmia/hyposmia to this odorous compound. Taken together, these findings validate the conjecture that in addition to cultural exchanges, genetic transfer may also influence the sensory perception of the population in contact.
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13
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Sharma A, Kumar R, Ranjta S, Varadwaj PK. SMILES to Smell: Decoding the Structure-Odor Relationship of Chemical Compounds Using the Deep Neural Network Approach. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:676-688. [PMID: 33449694 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c01288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Finding the relationship between the structure of an odorant molecule and its associated smell has always been an extremely challenging task. The major limitation in establishing the structure-odor relation is the vague and ambiguous nature of the descriptor-labeling, especially when the sources of odorant molecules are different. With the advent of deep networks, data-driven approaches have been substantiated to achieve more accurate linkages between the chemical structure and its smell. In this study, the deep neural network (DNN) with physiochemical properties and molecular fingerprints (PPMF) and the convolution neural network (CNN) with chemical-structure images (IMG) are developed to predict the smells of chemicals using their SMILES notations. A data set of 5185 chemical compounds with 104 smell percepts was used to develop the multilabel prediction models. The accuracies of smell prediction from DNN + PPMF and CNN + IMG (Xception based) were found to be 97.3 and 98.3%, respectively, when applied on an independent test set of chemicals. The deep learning architecture combining both DNN + PPMF and CNN + IMG prediction models is proposed, which classifies smells and may help understand the generic mechanism underlying the relationship between chemical structure and smell perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anju Sharma
- Department of Applied Science, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad 211012, Uttar Pradesh, India.,Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Campus 226010, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Rajnish Kumar
- Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Campus 226010, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Shabnam Ranjta
- Department of Chemistry, SGGS College, Chandigarh 160019, India
| | - Pritish Kumar Varadwaj
- Department of Applied Science, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad 211012, Uttar Pradesh, India
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14
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Lötsch J, Hummel T. Data Science-Based Analysis of Patient Subgroup Structures Suggest Effects of Rhinitis on All Chemosensory Perceptions in the Upper Airways. Chem Senses 2021; 46:6075427. [PMID: 33421076 DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjab001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Viral rhinitis contributes significantly to olfactory dysfunction, but it is unclear how many patients have other chemosensory symptoms in addition to olfactory loss. This was addressed in the present reanalysis of data previously published in Pellegrino R, Walliczek-Dworschak U, Winter G, Hull D, Hummel T. 2017. Investigation of chemosensitivity during and after an acute cold. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 7(2):185-191, using unsupervised and supervised machine-learning methods. Fifty-eight patients with acute rhinitis and 59 healthy controls were assessed for orthonasal and retronasal olfactory function, taste, and intranasal trigeminal sensitivity. Unsupervised analysis showed that during rhinitis, clinical scores of olfactory function, expressed as threshold, discrimination, identification (TDI) values, were trimodally distributed. Two minor modes were separated from the main mode at TDI = 30.5, which corresponds to the established limit of hyposmia. This trimodal distribution was not observed after the rhinitis subsided. Olfactory function was not significantly impaired in 40% of all rhinitis patients, whereas it was transiently impaired in 59%. For this group, supervised machine-learning algorithms could be trained with information on retronasal olfactory function, gustatory function, and trigeminal sensitivity to assign patients to subgroups based on orthonasal olfactory function with a balanced classification accuracy of 64-65%. The ability to recognize patients with olfactory loss based on retronasal olfactory function as well as gustatory function and trigeminal sensitivity suggests in turn that these modalities are affected by rhinitis. However, the only modest accuracy at which this information allowed to reproduce the olfactory diagnosis indicated they are involved in the symptomatology of rhinitis to a lesser extent compared with the orthonasal olfactory function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jörn Lötsch
- Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Thomas Hummel
- Smell & Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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15
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Melis M, Tomassini Barbarossa I, Hummel T, Crnjar R, Sollai G. Effect of the rs2890498 polymorphism of the OBPIIa gene on the human ability to smell single molecules. Behav Brain Res 2021; 402:113127. [PMID: 33422593 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2020] [Revised: 12/27/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Most odors of foods and drinks are mixtures of molecules. By means of the coupled Gas Chromatography-Olfactometry (GC-O) technique, single components of flavor mixtures can be separated, identified and verbally evaluated by subjects. The number of single molecules smelled by subjects during GC-O analysis (i.e., the number of odor-active compounds) was previously found to be linearly correlated with odor Threshold (T) score. Using the "Sniffin' Sticks" test, the same subjects were classified as normosmic or hyposmic. Hydrophobic odorants are captured and transported through the mucus layer by the odorant binding proteins (OBPs), particularly expressed in the olfactory cleft and associated with the olfactory function. In this study, subjects were genotyped for the rs2590498 (A/G) polymorphism of the OBPIIa gene, whose major allele A is associated with a higher olfactory sensitivity as compared to the minor allele G. One-way ANOVA showed a significant effect of the genotype of the OBPIIa locus on the: a) T score; b) number of odor-active compounds smelled; c) intensity perceived when sniffing the complex odor of banana. In conclusion, the threshold olfactory performance, but also the individual ability to smell single molecules, can be attributed, partly at least, to the rs2590498 polymorphism of the OBPIIa gene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melania Melis
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Monserrato, CA, 09042, Italy
| | | | - Thomas Hummel
- Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Roberto Crnjar
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Monserrato, CA, 09042, Italy.
| | - Giorgia Sollai
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Monserrato, CA, 09042, Italy.
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16
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Abstract
Approximately 5% of the general population is affected by functional anosmia with approximately additional 15% exhibiting decreased olfactory function. Many of these individuals ask for help. Because the subjective rating of olfactory function is biased, assessment of olfactory function is important. Olfactory measurements are needed for patient counseling and the tracking of changes in the sense of smell over time. The present review provides an overview of frequently used psychophysical tests for olfactory function, discusses differences between threshold and suprathreshold aspects of olfactory function, and gives examples on how to apply psychophysical tests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Hummel
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Smell & Taste Clinic, "Technische Universität Dresden", Dresden, Germany
| | - Dino Podlesek
- Department of Neurosurgery, "Technische Universität Dresden", Dresden, Germany
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17
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Abstract
Machine learning and data analytics are being increasingly used for quantitative structure property relation (QSPR) applications in the chemical domain where the traditional Edisonian approach towards knowledge-discovery have not been fruitful. The perception of odorant stimuli is one such application as olfaction is the least understood among all the other senses. In this study, we employ machine learning based algorithms and data analytics to address the efficacy of using a data-driven approach to predict the perceptual attributes of an odorant namely the odorant characters (OC) of "sweet" and "musky". We first analyze a psychophysical dataset containing perceptual ratings of 55 subjects to reveal patterns in the ratings given by subjects. We then use the data to train several machine learning algorithms such as random forest, gradient boosting and support vector machine for prediction of the odor characters and report the structural features correlating well with the odor characters based on the optimal model. Furthermore, we analyze the impact of the data quality on the performance of the models by comparing the semantic descriptors generally associated with a given odorant to its perception by majority of the subjects. The study presents a methodology for developing models for odor perception and provides insights on the perception of odorants by untrained human subjects and the effect of the inherent bias in the perception data on the model performance. The models and methodology developed here could be used for predicting odor characters of new odorants.
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18
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Honegger KS, Smith MAY, Churgin MA, Turner GC, de Bivort BL. Idiosyncratic neural coding and neuromodulation of olfactory individuality in Drosophila. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:23292-23297. [PMID: 31455738 PMCID: PMC7519279 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1901623116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Innate behavioral biases and preferences can vary significantly among individuals of the same genotype. Though individuality is a fundamental property of behavior, it is not currently understood how individual differences in brain structure and physiology produce idiosyncratic behaviors. Here we present evidence for idiosyncrasy in olfactory behavior and neural responses in Drosophila We show that individual female Drosophila from a highly inbred laboratory strain exhibit idiosyncratic odor preferences that persist for days. We used in vivo calcium imaging of neural responses to compare projection neuron (second-order neurons that convey odor information from the sensory periphery to the central brain) responses to the same odors across animals. We found that, while odor responses appear grossly stereotyped, upon closer inspection, many individual differences are apparent across antennal lobe (AL) glomeruli (compact microcircuits corresponding to different odor channels). Moreover, we show that neuromodulation, environmental stress in the form of altered nutrition, and activity of certain AL local interneurons affect the magnitude of interfly behavioral variability. Taken together, this work demonstrates that individual Drosophila exhibit idiosyncratic olfactory preferences and idiosyncratic neural responses to odors, and that behavioral idiosyncrasies are subject to neuromodulation and regulation by neurons in the AL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyle S Honegger
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
- Computational Informatics and Visualization Laboratory, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60611
| | - Matthew A-Y Smith
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Matthew A Churgin
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Glenn C Turner
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147
| | - Benjamin L de Bivort
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
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19
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QnAs with Leslie B. Vosshall. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:16100-16103. [DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2011073117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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20
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Snitz K, Perl O, Honigstein D, Secundo L, Ravia A, Yablonka A, Endevelt-Shapira Y, Sobel N. SmellSpace: An Odor-Based Social Network as a Platform for Collecting Olfactory Perceptual Data. Chem Senses 2020; 44:267-278. [PMID: 30873534 PMCID: PMC6462760 DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjz014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
A common goal in olfaction research is modeling the link between odorant structure and odor perception. Such modeling efforts require large data sets on olfactory perception, yet only a few of these are publicly and freely available. Given that individual odor perception may be informative on personal makeup and interpersonal relationships, we hypothesized that people would gladly provide olfactory perceptual estimates in the context of an odor-based social network. We developed a web-based infrastructure for such a network we called SmellSpace and distributed 10 000 scratch-and-sniff registration booklets each containing a subset of 12 out of 35 microencapsulated odorants. Within ~100 days, we obtained data from ~1000 participants who rated the odorants along 13 verbal descriptors. To verify that these estimates are comparable to lab-collected estimates we tested 26 participants in a controlled lab setting using the same odorants and descriptors. We observed remarkably high overall group correlations between lab and SmellSpace data, implying that this method provides for credible group-representations of odorants. We further estimated the usability of the data by applying to it two previously published models that used odorant structure alone to predict either odorant pleasantness or pairwise odorant perceptual similarity. We observed statistically significant predictions in both cases, thus further implying that the current data may be helpful toward future efforts of modeling olfactory perception from structure. We conclude that an odor-based social network is a potentially useful instrument for collecting extensive data on olfactory perception and here post the complete raw data set from the first ~1000 participants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kobi Snitz
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Ofer Perl
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | | | - Lavi Secundo
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Aharon Ravia
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Adi Yablonka
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | | | - Noam Sobel
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
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21
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Gaby JM, Tepper BJ. A comparison of hedonic and emotional responses to common odors delivered by qPODs (Portable Olfactive Devices) and traditional sniff jars. Food Qual Prefer 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.103804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
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22
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Gallo S, Byham-Gray L, Duffy VB, Hoffman HJ, Hayes JE, Rawal S. Associations of olfactory dysfunction with anthropometric and cardiometabolic measures: Findings from the 2013-2014 national health and nutrition examination survey (NHANES). Physiol Behav 2019; 215:112702. [PMID: 31629766 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.112702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2019] [Revised: 10/04/2019] [Accepted: 10/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
We examined associations of olfactory dysfunction with anthropometric and cardiometabolic measures in a nationally representative sample of US adults. In the 2013-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 3,815 participants, 40 years and older, completed a standardized taste and smell protocol, which consisted of an 8-item odor identification test and a chemosensory questionnaire. Measured dysfunction was incorrect identification of ≥3 of 8 odors; self-reported dysfunction was affirmative response to either a recent smell problem, worse ability since age 25, or phantosmia. Survey-weighted linear regression models tested associations of olfactory dysfunction with body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), blood pressure, serum total cholesterol (TC) with fractions, triglycerides, and glucose levels. Models were adjusted for age, race, education, physical activity, self-reported general health condition, smoking history, and income-to-poverty ratio, stratifying by sex and age group (middle-age 40-64 years; older ≥65 years). Relative to normal, measured olfactory dysfunction was associated with lower BMI [β=-1.6 (95% CI: -3.2, -0.01)] in older men. In middle-age women, dysfunction was associated with higher BMI and WC, whether assessed by examination [β's for BMI=3.1 (0.6, 5.5), WC=5.0 (0.3, 9.8)] or self-report [β's for BMI=2.5 (0.6, 4.3), WC=6.1 (2.2, 9.9)]. Measured dysfunction was associated with significantly higher TC [β=12.8 (7.5, 18.1)] and LDL [β=18.1 (9.1, 27.2)] among older men, but significantly lower TC [β=-15.0 (-25.0, -5.7)] and marginally lower LDL [β=-12.0 (-25.0, 1.2)] among older women. Between measured dysfunction and fasting glucose, the association was inverse [β=-7.9 (-13.0, -2.6)] among middle-age men, but positive [β=15.6 (1.5, 29.7)] among older women. No significant associations were observed with blood pressure levels. In conclusion, among US adults ≥40 years, olfactory dysfunction is associated with anthropometric and glucose and lipid levels, with associations varying by sex and age group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha Gallo
- Department of Clinical and Preventive Nutrition Sciences, Rutgers School of Health Professions, 65 Bergen St., Newark, NJ 07107-1709 USA.
| | - Laura Byham-Gray
- Department of Clinical and Preventive Nutrition Sciences, Rutgers School of Health Professions, 65 Bergen St., Newark, NJ 07107-1709 USA.
| | - Valerie B Duffy
- Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, 358 Mansfield Rd, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
| | - Howard J Hoffman
- Epidemiology and Statistics Program, Division of Scientific Programs, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health (NIH), 10 Center Dr., Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | - John E Hayes
- Sensory Evaluation Center, The Pennsylvania State University, 220 Erickson Food Science Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Department of Food Science, College of Agricultural Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, 220 Erickson Food Science Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
| | - Shristi Rawal
- Department of Clinical and Preventive Nutrition Sciences, Rutgers School of Health Professions, 65 Bergen St., Newark, NJ 07107-1709 USA.
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23
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Genetic variation across the human olfactory receptor repertoire alters odor perception. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:9475-9480. [PMID: 31040214 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1804106115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans use a family of more than 400 olfactory receptors (ORs) to detect odors, but there is currently no model that can predict olfactory perception from receptor activity patterns. Genetic variation in human ORs is abundant and alters receptor function, allowing us to examine the relationship between receptor function and perception. We sequenced the OR repertoire in 332 individuals and examined how genetic variation affected 276 olfactory phenotypes, including the perceived intensity and pleasantness of 68 odorants at two concentrations, detection thresholds of three odorants, and general olfactory acuity. Genetic variation in a single OR was frequently associated with changes in odorant perception, and we validated 10 cases in which in vitro OR function correlated with in vivo odorant perception using a functional assay. In 8 of these 10 cases, reduced receptor function was associated with reduced intensity perception. In addition, we used participant genotypes to quantify genetic ancestry and found that, in combination with single OR genotype, age, and gender, we can explain between 10% and 20% of the perceptual variation in 15 olfactory phenotypes, highlighting the importance of single OR genotype, ancestry, and demographic factors in the variation of olfactory perception.
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24
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Self-Administered Testing of Odor Threshold and Discrimination Using Sniffin’ Sticks—Reviving the “Odor-Curves-On-Paper” Method. CHEMOSENS PERCEPT 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s12078-019-09263-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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25
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Tamari K, Takeuchi H, Kobayashi M, Takeuchi K, Kurahashi T, Yamamoto T. Electrical properties of cells from human olfactory epithelium. Auris Nasus Larynx 2019; 46:734-741. [PMID: 30850172 DOI: 10.1016/j.anl.2019.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2018] [Revised: 12/19/2018] [Accepted: 01/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The electrical properties of olfactory cells (OCs) are typically examined using animals such as newts, mice, and frogs, with few studies on human OCs. This study investigated the electrical properties of human cells from olfactory epithelium (hCOEs) obtained from subjects of olfactory epithelium showing no clinical symptoms during endoscopic sinus surgery. METHODS hCOEs were isolated by collagenase treatment for whole-cell patch clamp recording. The identity of the cells was confirmed by immunohistochemistry with an antibody against olfactory maker protein. Under the voltage clamp with the whole-cell recording configuration, the voltage-gated currents of isolated hCOEs were recorded when the membrane potential was depolarized from a holding potential of -100 mV in a stepwise manner between -90 mV and + 40 mV. RESULTS Only one of 14 hCOE samples expressed a transient inward current at the depolarizing voltage step that was activated by depolarization beyond -40 mV and reached a peak at -30 mV. Delayed and sustained outward currents (444 ± 106 pA at + 40 mV pulse; n = 20) were suppressed by tetraethyl ammonium (n = 3), which is consistent with the properties of newt OCs. CONCLUSIONS Most hCOEs did not exhibit the transient inward current observed in animal models. These findings provide insight into the physiological basis of the unique aspects of human olfactory signal transduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kengo Tamari
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Mie University, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan; Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan.
| | - Hiroko Takeuchi
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan
| | - Masayoshi Kobayashi
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan
| | - Kazuhiko Takeuchi
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan
| | - Takashi Kurahashi
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan
| | - Tetsuro Yamamoto
- Department of Neurophysiology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan
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26
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Sharafi M, Rawal S, Fernandez ML, Huedo-Medina TB, Duffy VB. Taste phenotype associates with cardiovascular disease risk factors via diet quality in multivariate modeling. Physiol Behav 2018; 194:103-112. [DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.05.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2017] [Revised: 04/24/2018] [Accepted: 05/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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27
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Singh R, Humphries T, Mason S, Lecky F, Dawson J, Sinha S. The incidence of anosmia after traumatic brain injury: the SHEFBIT cohort. Brain Inj 2018; 32:1122-1128. [DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2018.1483028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rajiv Singh
- Osborn Neurorehabilitation Unit, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, Sheffield, UK
- Health Services Research, School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | | | - Suzanne Mason
- Health Services Research, School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Fiona Lecky
- Health Services Research, School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Jeremy Dawson
- Institute of Work Psychology, Sheffield University Management School, Sheffield, UK
| | - Saurabh Sinha
- Department of Neurosurgery, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, Sheffield, UK
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28
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Humphries T, Singh R. Assessment of olfactory function after traumatic brain injury: comparison of single odour tool with detailed assessment tool. Brain Inj 2018; 32:557-562. [DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2018.1434237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Rajiv Singh
- Osborn Neurorehabilitation Unit, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, Sheffield, UK
- Emergency Medicine Research in Sheffield (EMRiS), Health Services Research, School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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29
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Majid A, Kruspe N. Hunter-Gatherer Olfaction Is Special. Curr Biol 2018; 28:409-413.e2. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.12.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2017] [Revised: 12/04/2017] [Accepted: 12/07/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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30
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SMELL-S and SMELL-R: Olfactory tests not influenced by odor-specific insensitivity or prior olfactory experience. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:11275-11284. [PMID: 29073044 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1711415114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Smell dysfunction is a common and underdiagnosed medical condition that can have serious consequences. It is also an early biomarker of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, where olfactory deficits precede detectable memory loss. Clinical tests that evaluate the sense of smell face two major challenges. First, human sensitivity to individual odorants varies significantly, so test results may be unreliable in people with low sensitivity to a test odorant but an otherwise normal sense of smell. Second, prior familiarity with odor stimuli can bias smell test performance. We have developed nonsemantic tests for olfactory sensitivity (SMELL-S) and olfactory resolution (SMELL-R) that use mixtures of odorants that have unfamiliar smells. The tests can be self-administered by healthy individuals with minimal training and show high test-retest reliability. Because SMELL-S uses odor mixtures rather than a single molecule, odor-specific insensitivity is averaged out, and the test accurately distinguished people with normal and dysfunctional smell. SMELL-R is a discrimination test in which the difference between two stimulus mixtures can be altered stepwise. This is an advance over current discrimination tests, which ask subjects to discriminate monomolecular odorants whose difference in odor cannot be quantified. SMELL-R showed significantly less bias in scores between North American and Taiwanese subjects than conventional semantically based smell tests that need to be adapted to different languages and cultures. Based on these proof-of-principle results in healthy individuals, we predict that SMELL-S and SMELL-R will be broadly effective in diagnosing smell dysfunction.
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Raimondi F, Betts MJ, Lu Q, Inoue A, Gutkind JS, Russell RB. Genetic variants affecting equivalent protein family positions reflect human diversity. Sci Rep 2017; 7:12771. [PMID: 28986545 PMCID: PMC5630595 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-12971-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2017] [Accepted: 09/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Members of diverse protein families often perform overlapping or redundant functions meaning that different variations within them could reflect differences between individual organisms. We investigated likely functional positions within aligned protein families that contained a significant enrichment of nonsynonymous variants in genomes of healthy individuals. We identified more than a thousand enriched positions across hundreds of family alignments with roles indicative of mammalian individuality, including sensory perception and the immune system. The most significant position is the Arginine from the Olfactory receptor “DRY” motif, which has more variants in healthy individuals than all other positions in the proteome. Odorant binding data suggests that these variants lead to receptor inactivity, and they are mostly mutually exclusive with other loss-of-function (stop/frameshift) variants. Some DRY Arginine variants correlate with smell preferences in sub-populations and all 2,504 humans studied contain a unique spectrum of active and inactive receptors. The many other variant enriched positions, across hundreds of other families might also provide insights into individual differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Raimondi
- CellNetworks, Bioquant, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 267, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.,Biochemie Zentrum Heidelberg (BZH), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 328, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Matthew J Betts
- CellNetworks, Bioquant, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 267, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.,Biochemie Zentrum Heidelberg (BZH), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 328, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Qianhao Lu
- CellNetworks, Bioquant, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 267, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.,Biochemie Zentrum Heidelberg (BZH), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 328, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Asuka Inoue
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.,Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology (PRESTO), Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan
| | | | - Robert B Russell
- CellNetworks, Bioquant, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 267, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany. .,Biochemie Zentrum Heidelberg (BZH), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 328, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
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Abstract
Natural olfactory stimuli are volatile-chemical mixtures in which relative perceptual saliencies determine which odor-components are identified. Odor identification also depends on rapid selective adaptation, as shown for 4 odor stimuli in an earlier experimental simulation of natural conditions. Adapt-test pairs of mixtures of water-soluble, distinct odor stimuli with chemical features in common were studied. Identification decreased for adapted components but increased for unadapted mixture-suppressed components, showing compound identities were retained, not degraded to individual molecular features. Four additional odor stimuli, 1 with 2 perceptible odor notes, and an added "water-adapted" control tested whether this finding would generalize to other 4-compound sets. Selective adaptation of mixtures of the compounds (odors): 3 mM benzaldehyde (cherry), 5 mM maltol (caramel), 1 mM guaiacol (smoke), and 4 mM methyl anthranilate (grape-smoke) again reciprocally unmasked odors of mixture-suppressed components in 2-, 3-, and 4-component mixtures with 2 exceptions. The cherry note of "benzaldehyde" (itself) and the shared note of "methyl anthranilate and guaiacol" (together) were more readily identified. The pervasive mixture-component dominance and dynamic perceptual salience may be mediated through peripheral adaptation and central mutual inhibition of neural responses. Originating in individual olfactory receptor variants, it limits odor identification and provides analytic properties for momentary recognition of a few remaining mixture-components.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marion E Frank
- Oral Health & Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, UConn Health, MC 1715, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030, USA
| | - Dane B Fletcher
- Oral Health & Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, UConn Health, MC 1715, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030, USA
| | - Thomas P Hettinger
- Oral Health & Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, UConn Health, MC 1715, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030, USA
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Pleasantness of olfactory and trigeminal stimulants in different Italian regions. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2017; 274:3907-3913. [PMID: 28861603 DOI: 10.1007/s00405-017-4722-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2017] [Accepted: 08/16/2017] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Although individuals categorize odors according to their pleasantness, experience may also influence odor perception-a phenomenon that partially explains why different populations perceive odors differently. Italy, which comprises 20 regions, is characterized by very different cultures. In the present study, we investigated for the first time how Italian regional differences can affect odor perception. 254 healthy volunteers coming from northern, central, southern Italy, and Sicily, one of the two major Italian islands, were recruited in Padua, Rome, Naples, and Syracuse, respectively. Olfactory function was tested with Sniffin' Sticks identification subtest. Subjects who had a score in the range within the mean identification value ± 1 SD, in accordance with the age classes identified in the literature, were asked to judge the odor pleasantness of 20 substances. The hedonic tone of the odorants was categorized as pleasant, neutral, unpleasant, and very unpleasant. Some odorants were appreciated more in northern Italy than in the other parts of the country, whereas others were appreciated more in the south and in Sicily than in the north. Unpleasant odorants were judged less unpleasant in central Italy. Some odorants such as strawberry and vanilla were perceived similarly in all the regional areas. Our study indicates that in Italy, hedonic perception of odorants differs probably in relation with genetic, cultural, and environmental factors. Further investigation is needed to delve deeper into the factors that influence the quality odor perception amongst humans.
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Zanchin G, Fuccaro M, Battistella P, Ermani M, Mainardi F, Maggioni F. A lost track in ICHD 3 beta: A comprehensive review on osmophobia. Cephalalgia 2016; 38:340-352. [DOI: 10.1177/0333102416678390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Background Osmophobia (Os) has been reported to be much more prevalent in migraine (M) than in other primary headaches, and its high specificity in the differential diagnosis between M and tension-type headache (TTH) has been reported. Os was included in the ICHD II Appendix as a diagnostic criterion of M. It disappeared in ICHD-3 beta. To understand this choice, we reviewed the literature after 2004. Methods This was a systematic review. We searched in PubMed, MEDLINE and Cochrane library for “osmophobia”, “odour/odorphobia AND headache”, “odour/odor hypersensitivity AND headache” and “olfactory hypersensitivity AND headache”. Results 112 papers cited Os as an accompanying symptom of headache; 16 focused on Os in M diagnosis. With the data from 40 articles, we calculated the pooled prevalence of Os in 14,360 patients (2281 pediatric) affected by M (n = 12,496) and TTH (n = 1864). In M, the prevalence was 48.5% (CI 95% 41.4 to 55.8%) in adults and 23.4% (CI 95% 15.7 to 33.4%) in pediatric patients; in TTH, the prevalence was 8.9% (CI 95% 4.6 to 13.5%) in adults and 7.9% (CI 95% 3.3 to 18.1%) in pediatric patients. Ten of these papers allowed us to calculate the sensibility and specificity of Os in differential diagnosis between M and TTH. In adults, the value of specificity was 94.1% (CI 95% 88.9 to 96.9%), and sensitivity was 51.4% (CI 95% 38.4 to 64.2%). In pediatric patients, specificity was 92.0% (CI 95% 81.9 to 96.7%), and sensitivity was 22.1% (CI 95% 10.1 to 41.8%). Conclusion The literature endorses the inclusion of Os among M diagnostic criteria. On this ground, the decision to remove Os from ICHD 3 beta appears unjustified and a revision of this choice is recommended.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Zanchin
- Interdepartmental Headache Centre, School of Medicine, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Matteo Fuccaro
- Interdepartmental Headache Centre, School of Medicine, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | | | - Mario Ermani
- Interdepartmental Headache Centre, School of Medicine, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Federico Mainardi
- Headache Centre, Neurological Division, SS Giovanni e Paolo Hospital, Venice, Italy
| | - Ferdinando Maggioni
- Interdepartmental Headache Centre, School of Medicine, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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Keller A, Vosshall LB. Olfactory perception of chemically diverse molecules. BMC Neurosci 2016; 17:55. [PMID: 27502425 PMCID: PMC4977894 DOI: 10.1186/s12868-016-0287-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2016] [Accepted: 07/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Understanding the relationship between a stimulus and how it is perceived reveals fundamental principles about the mechanisms of sensory perception. While this stimulus-percept problem is mostly understood for color vision and tone perception, it is not currently possible to predict how a given molecule smells. While there has been some progress in predicting the pleasantness and intensity of an odorant, perceptual data for a larger number of diverse molecules are needed to improve current predictions. Towards this goal, we tested the olfactory perception of 480 structurally and perceptually diverse molecules at two concentrations using a panel of 55 healthy human subjects. Results For each stimulus, we collected data on perceived intensity, pleasantness, and familiarity. In addition, subjects were asked to apply 20 semantic odor quality descriptors to these stimuli, and were offered the option to describe the smell in their own words. Using this dataset, we replicated several previous correlations between molecular features of the stimulus and olfactory perception. The number of sulfur atoms in a molecule was correlated with the odor quality descriptors “garlic,” “fish,” and “decayed,” and large and structurally complex molecules were perceived to be more pleasant. We discovered a number of correlations in intensity perception between molecules. We show that familiarity had a strong effect on the ability of subjects to describe a smell. Many subjects used commercial products to describe familiar odorants, highlighting the role of prior experience in verbal reports of olfactory perception. Nonspecific descriptors like “chemical” were applied frequently to unfamiliar odorants, and unfamiliar odorants were generally rated as neither pleasant nor unpleasant. Conclusions We present a very large psychophysical dataset and use this to correlate molecular features of a stimulus to olfactory percept. Our work reveals robust correlations between molecular features and perceptual qualities, and highlights the dominant role of familiarity and experience in assigning verbal descriptors to odorants. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12868-016-0287-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Keller
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, Box 63, New York, NY, 10065, USA
| | - Leslie B Vosshall
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, Box 63, New York, NY, 10065, USA. .,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York, USA. .,Kavli Neural Systems Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, USA.
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Individual Differences in Retronasal Odor Responsiveness: Effects of Aging and Concurrent Taste. CHEMOSENS PERCEPT 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s12078-016-9206-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Millar Vernetti P, Rossi M, Cerquetti D, Perez Lloret S, Merello M. Comparison of Olfactory Identification Patterns among Parkinson’s Disease Patients from Different Countries. Chem Senses 2015; 41:77-83. [DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjv062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
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Individual olfactory perception reveals meaningful nonolfactory genetic information. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:8750-5. [PMID: 26100865 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1424826112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Each person expresses a potentially unique subset of ∼ 400 different olfactory receptor subtypes. Given that the receptors we express partially determine the odors we smell, it follows that each person may have a unique nose; to capture this, we devised a sensitive test of olfactory perception we termed the "olfactory fingerprint." Olfactory fingerprints relied on matrices of perceived odorant similarity derived from descriptors applied to the odorants. We initially fingerprinted 89 individuals using 28 odors and 54 descriptors. We found that each person had a unique olfactory fingerprint (P < 10(-10)), which was odor specific but descriptor independent. We could identify individuals from this pool using randomly selected sets of 7 odors and 11 descriptors alone. Extrapolating from this data, we determined that using 34 odors and 35 descriptors we could individually identify each of the 7 billion people on earth. Olfactory perception, however, fluctuates over time, calling into question our proposed perceptual readout of presumably stable genetic makeup. To test whether fingerprints remain informative despite this temporal fluctuation, building on the linkage between olfactory receptors and HLA, we hypothesized that olfactory perception may relate to HLA. We obtained olfactory fingerprints and HLA typing for 130 individuals, and found that olfactory fingerprint matching using only four odorants was significantly related to HLA matching (P < 10(-4)), such that olfactory fingerprints can save 32% of HLA tests in a population screen (P < 10(-6)). In conclusion, a precise measure of olfactory perception reveals meaningful nonolfactory genetic information.
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Loos HM, Doucet S, Soussignan R, Hartmann C, Durand K, Dittrich R, Sagot P, Buettner A, Schaal B. Responsiveness of human neonates to the odor of 5α-androst-16-en-3-one: a behavioral paradox? Chem Senses 2015; 39:693-703. [PMID: 25217699 DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bju041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The odorous steroid 5α-androst-16-en-3-one (AND) occurs in numerous biological fluids in mammals, including man, where it is believed to play a chemocommunicative role. As AND was recently detected in milk and amniotic fluid, sensitivity and hedonic responses to this substance were assessed in human neonates. To this aim, respiration and facial expressions were recorded in 3-day-old newborns in response to aqueous solutions of AND, ranging from 500ng/mL to 0.5 fg/mL. Although analyses of respiratory rate did not lead to clear-cut results, the newborns changed their facial expressions at concentrations not detected by adults in a triangle test. Newborns displayed negative facial actions of longer duration to AND relative to an odorless control. Thus, AND may be considered to be offensive to newborns, which is a counterintuitive outcome as they are exposed to this compound in the womb (and it should therefore be familiar), in milk, and on the mother's skin surface (and it should therefore be conditioned as positive). Multiple reasons for this perceptual-behavioral paradox are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helene M Loos
- Developmental Ethology and Cognitive Psychology Group, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, CNRS-Université de Bourgogne, 9E boulevard Jeanne d'Arc, 21000 Dijon, France, Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Emil Fischer Center, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schuhstraße 9, 91052 Erlangen, Germany, Department of Sensory Analytics, Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Giggenhauser Straße 35, 85354 Freising, Germany,
| | - Sébastien Doucet
- Developmental Ethology and Cognitive Psychology Group, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, CNRS-Université de Bourgogne, 9E boulevard Jeanne d'Arc, 21000 Dijon, France, Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Emil Fischer Center, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schuhstraße 9, 91052 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Robert Soussignan
- Developmental Ethology and Cognitive Psychology Group, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, CNRS-Université de Bourgogne, 9E boulevard Jeanne d'Arc, 21000 Dijon, France
| | - Constanze Hartmann
- Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Emil Fischer Center, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schuhstraße 9, 91052 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Karine Durand
- Developmental Ethology and Cognitive Psychology Group, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, CNRS-Université de Bourgogne, 9E boulevard Jeanne d'Arc, 21000 Dijon, France
| | - Ralf Dittrich
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Universitätsstraße 21-23, 91054 Erlangen, Germany and
| | - Paul Sagot
- Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Reproductive Biology, University Hospital Dijon, 1 boulevard Jeanne d'Arc, 21079 Dijon, France
| | - Andrea Buettner
- Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Emil Fischer Center, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schuhstraße 9, 91052 Erlangen, Germany, Department of Sensory Analytics, Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Giggenhauser Straße 35, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Benoist Schaal
- Developmental Ethology and Cognitive Psychology Group, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, CNRS-Université de Bourgogne, 9E boulevard Jeanne d'Arc, 21000 Dijon, France
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Abstract
Although the human olfactory system is capable of discriminating a vast number of odors, we do not currently understand what chemical features are encoded by olfactory receptors. In large part this is due to a paucity of data in a search space covering the interactions of hundreds of receptors with billions of odorous molecules. Of the approximately 400 intact human odorant receptors, only 10% have a published ligand. Here we used a heterologous luciferase assay to screen 73 odorants against a clone library of 511 human olfactory receptors. This dataset will allow other researchers to interrogate the combinatorial nature of olfactory coding.
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Visually induced motion sickness can be alleviated by pleasant odors. Exp Brain Res 2015; 233:1353-64. [PMID: 25633319 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-015-4209-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2014] [Accepted: 01/16/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) is a common side effect in virtual environments and simulators. Several countermeasures against VIMS exist, but a reliable method to prevent or ease VIMS is unfortunately still missing. In the present study, we tested whether olfactory cues can alleviate VIMS. Sixty-two participants were exposed to a 15-min-long video showing a first-person-view bicycle ride that had successfully induced VIMS in previous studies. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups; the first group was exposed to a pleasant odor (rose) while watching the video, the second group was exposed to an unpleasant odor (leather), and the third group was not exposed to any odor. VIMS was measured using a verbal rating scale (0-20) and the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire. Results showed that only half of the participants who were exposed to the odor did notice it (n = 21), whereas the other half failed to detect the odor. However, among those participants who did notice the odor, the rose scent significantly reduced the severity of VIMS compared to the group that did not notice the odor. A moderate positive correlation between odor sensitivity and VIMS showed that participants with higher odor sensitivity also reported stronger VIMS. Our results demonstrate that olfaction can modulate VIMS and that a pleasant odor can potentially reduce VIMS. The relationship between olfactory perception, olfactory sensibility, and VIMS is discussed.
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Pinto JM, Wroblewski KE, Kern DW, Schumm LP, McClintock MK. Olfactory dysfunction predicts 5-year mortality in older adults. PLoS One 2014; 9:e107541. [PMID: 25271633 PMCID: PMC4182669 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0107541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 229] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2014] [Accepted: 08/15/2014] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Prediction of mortality has focused on disease and frailty, although antecedent biomarkers may herald broad physiological decline. Olfaction, an ancestral chemical system, is a strong candidate biomarker because it is linked to diverse physiological processes. We sought to determine if olfactory dysfunction is a harbinger of 5-year mortality in the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project [NSHAP], a nationally representative sample of older U.S. adults. 3,005 community-dwelling adults aged 57–85 were studied in 2005–6 (Wave 1) and their mortality determined in 2010–11 (Wave 2). Olfactory dysfunction, determined objectively at Wave 1, was used to estimate the odds of 5-year, all cause mortality via logistic regression, controlling for demographics and health factors. Mortality for anosmic older adults was four times that of normosmic individuals while hyposmic individuals had intermediate mortality (p<0.001), a “dose-dependent” effect present across the age range. In a comprehensive model that included potential confounding factors, anosmic older adults had over three times the odds of death compared to normosmic individuals (OR, 3.37 [95%CI 2.04, 5.57]), higher than and independent of known leading causes of death, and did not result from the following mechanisms: nutrition, cognitive function, mental health, smoking and alcohol abuse or frailty. Olfactory function is thus one of the strongest predictors of 5-year mortality and may serve as a bellwether for slowed cellular regeneration or as a marker of cumulative toxic environmental exposures. This finding provides clues for pinpointing an underlying mechanism related to a fundamental component of the aging process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayant M. Pinto
- Section of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Surgery, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Kristen E. Wroblewski
- Department of Health Studies, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - David W. Kern
- Department of Comparative Human Development and The Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
- The Center on the Demography and Economics of Aging, National Opinion Research Center, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - L. Philip Schumm
- Department of Health Studies, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Martha K. McClintock
- Department of Comparative Human Development and The Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
- The Center on the Demography and Economics of Aging, National Opinion Research Center, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
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[Polish version of the Sniffin' Sticks Test - adaptation and normalization]. Otolaryngol Pol 2014; 68:308-14. [PMID: 25168274 DOI: 10.1016/j.otpol.2014.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2014] [Revised: 07/29/2014] [Accepted: 08/05/2014] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Sniffin' Sticks Test (SST) is a complex smell test, enabling the diagnosis of various aspects of olfactory sensitivity. It is one of the most popular tools for olfactory testing all over the world; however, so far it has not been commonly used in Poland. AIM The presented study had the following aims: assessment of the applicability of the SST in Poland, adaptation of the identification subtest, normalization of the whole battery and comparison of the Polish results to the norms in the original tool. MATERIALS AND METHODS We tested olfactory sensitivity of 281 healthy volunteers aged 18-87 years. We used the full version of the SST (threshold, discrimination and identification subtests). RESULTS The results of the presented study are the modified version of the identification test response questionnaire and clearly defined normative values for the Polish people of different ages. Normative values and results in Poland were not significantly different from the previously reported findings for the original, German tool. Additionally, consistent with previous reports, olfactory sensitivity of the eldest group of the Polish people was lower than performance in younger age groups. CONCLUSIONS The presented findings suggest that the adapted version of the Sniffin' Sticks Test might be used for both medical and research purposes in Poland.
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Genovese A, Caporaso N, Civitella A, Sacchi R. Effect of human saliva and sip volume of coffee brews on the release of key volatile compounds by a retronasal aroma simulator. Food Res Int 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2014.02.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
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Ignatieva EV, Levitsky VG, Yudin NS, Moshkin MP, Kolchanov NA. Genetic basis of olfactory cognition: extremely high level of DNA sequence polymorphism in promoter regions of the human olfactory receptor genes revealed using the 1000 Genomes Project dataset. Front Psychol 2014; 5:247. [PMID: 24715883 PMCID: PMC3970011 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2013] [Accepted: 03/05/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The molecular mechanism of olfactory cognition is very complicated. Olfactory cognition is initiated by olfactory receptor proteins (odorant receptors), which are activated by olfactory stimuli (ligands). Olfactory receptors are the initial player in the signal transduction cascade producing a nerve impulse, which is transmitted to the brain. The sensitivity to a particular ligand depends on the expression level of multiple proteins involved in the process of olfactory cognition: olfactory receptor proteins, proteins that participate in signal transduction cascade, etc. The expression level of each gene is controlled by its regulatory regions, and especially, by the promoter [a region of DNA about 100–1000 base pairs long located upstream of the transcription start site (TSS)]. We analyzed single nucleotide polymorphisms using human whole-genome data from the 1000 Genomes Project and revealed an extremely high level of single nucleotide polymorphisms in promoter regions of olfactory receptor genes and HLA genes. We hypothesized that the high level of polymorphisms in olfactory receptor promoters was responsible for the diversity in regulatory mechanisms controlling the expression levels of olfactory receptor proteins. Such diversity of regulatory mechanisms may cause the great variability of olfactory cognition of numerous environmental olfactory stimuli perceived by human beings (air pollutants, human body odors, odors in culinary etc.). In turn, this variability may provide a wide range of emotional and behavioral reactions related to the vast variety of olfactory stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena V Ignatieva
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Bioinformatics and Theoretical Genetics, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences Novosibirsk, Russia ; Department of Natural Science, Novosibirsk State University Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Victor G Levitsky
- Department of Natural Science, Novosibirsk State University Novosibirsk, Russia ; Laboratory of Molecular-Genetic Systems, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Nikolay S Yudin
- Department of Natural Science, Novosibirsk State University Novosibirsk, Russia ; Laboratory of Human Molecular Genetics, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Mikhail P Moshkin
- Department of Natural Science, Novosibirsk State University Novosibirsk, Russia ; Laboratory of Mammalian Ecological Genetics, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Nikolay A Kolchanov
- Department of Natural Science, Novosibirsk State University Novosibirsk, Russia ; Department of Systems Biology, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences Novosibirsk, Russia ; National Research centre "Kurchatov Institute" Moscow, Russia
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The missense of smell: functional variability in the human odorant receptor repertoire. Nat Neurosci 2013; 17:114-20. [PMID: 24316890 PMCID: PMC3990440 DOI: 10.1038/nn.3598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 192] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2013] [Accepted: 11/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Humans have ~400 intact odorant receptors, but each individual has a unique set of genetic variations that lead to variation in olfactory perception. We used a heterologous assay to determine how often genetic polymorphisms in odorant receptors alter receptor function. We identified agonists for 18 odorant receptors and found that 63% of the odorant receptors we examined had polymorphisms that altered in vitro function. On average, two individuals have functional differences at over 30% of their odorant receptor alleles. To show that these in vitro results are relevant to olfactory perception, we verified that variations in OR10G4 genotype explain over 15% of the observed variation in perceived intensity and over 10% of the observed variation in perceived valence for the high-affinity in vitro agonist guaiacol but do not explain phenotype variation for the lower-affinity agonists vanillin and ethyl vanillin.
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Auffarth B. Understanding smell—The olfactory stimulus problem. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2013; 37:1667-79. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2012] [Revised: 05/09/2013] [Accepted: 06/13/2013] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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Sorokowska A, Sorokowski P, Hummel T, Huanca T. Olfaction and environment: Tsimane' of Bolivian rainforest have lower threshold of odor detection than industrialized German people. PLoS One 2013; 8:e69203. [PMID: 23922693 PMCID: PMC3726727 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2013] [Accepted: 06/03/2013] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Olfactory sensitivity varies between individuals. However, data regarding cross-cultural and inter-group differences are scarce. We compared the thresholds of odor detection of the traditional society of Tsimane' (native Amazonians of the Bolivian rainforest; n = 151) and people living in Dresden (Germany; n = 286) using "Sniffin' Sticks" threshold subtest. Tsimane' detected n-butanol at significantly lower concentrations than the German subjects. The distribution of thresholds of the Tsimane' was very specific, with 25% of Tsimane' obtaining better results in the olfactory test than any member of the German group. These data suggest that differences in olfactory sensitivity seem to be especially salient between industrialized and non-industrialized populations inhabiting different environmental conditions. We hypothesize that the possible sources of such differences are: (i) the impact of pollution which impairs the olfactory abilities of people from industrialized countries; (ii) better training of olfaction because of the higher importance of smell in traditional populations; (iii) environmental pressures shaping olfactory abilities in these populations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Thomas Hummel
- Smell & Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Technical University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Tomas Huanca
- Centro boliviano de Investigación y de Desarrollo Socio Integral, Correo Central, San Borja, Beni, Bolivia
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Kaeppler K, Mueller F. Odor Classification: A Review of Factors Influencing Perception-Based Odor Arrangements. Chem Senses 2013; 38:189-209. [DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjs141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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