Schwenn Oliver, Hundorf Inga, Moll Bertram, Pitz Susanne, Mann Wolf J
Universitäts-Augenklinik Mainz, Germany.
Klin Monbl Augenheilkd. 2002 Sep;219(9):649-54. doi: 10.1055/s-2002-35167.
Functional disorders of sense organs may intensify the remaining senses. It is presumed that blind persons do not only hear better and have an intensified tactile sense but also have a stronger sense of smell. Better hearing ability was demonstrated by auditory evoked potentials. We investigated the sense of smell of blind persons by subjective tests (Sniffin' sticks: threshold, discrimination and identification) and for the first time also by objective tests (olfactory evoked potentials and trigeminal evoked potentials) and compared the results with the smelling ability of normal sighted persons by pair matching. Moreover, the investigated persons judged their performance via a questionnaire. The subjective test showed neither differences in the peripheral function nor in the central function between both groups. The amplitudes and latencies of the evoked potentials of vanillin, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide were also not different. Blind persons tried unasked to identify the smell given in the discrimination test and thought themselves to be better in smelling. For the first time the smelling ability of blind people was compared with normal sighted people by objective test methods. Neither with subjective nor with objective methods differences were found.
感觉器官的功能障碍可能会增强其他剩余的感觉。据推测，盲人不仅听力更好、触觉更敏锐，而且嗅觉也更灵敏。听觉诱发电位证明了盲人具有更好的听力。我们通过主观测试（嗅觉棒：阈值、辨别和识别）首次对盲人的嗅觉进行了研究，同时也采用了客观测试（嗅觉诱发电位和三叉神经诱发电位），并通过配对匹配将结果与视力正常者的嗅觉能力进行了比较。此外，被调查者通过问卷对自己的表现进行了评价。主观测试表明，两组在周边功能和中枢功能方面均无差异。香草醛、二氧化碳和硫化氢诱发电位的振幅和潜伏期也没有差异。盲人在辨别测试中会主动尝试识别所给的气味，并认为自己的嗅觉更好。首次通过客观测试方法将盲人的嗅觉能力与视力正常者进行了比较。无论是主观方法还是客观方法，均未发现差异。
