Fernandez-Ruiz Juan, Díaz Rosalinda, Hall-Haro Cynthia, Vergara Patricia, Fiorentini Aldo, Nuñez Lilia, Drucker-Colín René, Ochoa Adriana, Yescas Petra, Rasmussen Astrid, Alonso Maria-Elisa
Depto. Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F., AP 70-250.
Neuroreport. 2003 Jul 18;14(10):1339-41. doi: 10.1097/01.wnr.0000077551.91466.d3.
In the present study the olfactory system of hereditary ataxia patients was tested using the smell identification test. Two previous findings suggested a possible olfactory impairment in these patients. First, an olfactory dysfunction has been found in different neurodegenerative diseases, and second, human functional imaging has shown cerebellar activation during olfaction. As an initial approach to determine if cerebellar ataxia impairs the olfactory process, cerebellar ataxia patients, along with basal ganglia patients, were tested. The results show an olfactory deficit in both basal ganglia and hereditary ataxia patients. Further exploration of the olfactory capacities in hereditary ataxia is necessary to elucidate the specific nature of the deficits.
在本研究中，使用嗅觉识别测试对遗传性共济失调患者的嗅觉系统进行了检测。此前的两项研究结果提示这些患者可能存在嗅觉障碍。第一，在不同的神经退行性疾病中发现了嗅觉功能障碍；第二，人体功能成像显示嗅觉过程中小脑会被激活。作为确定小脑共济失调是否会损害嗅觉过程的初步方法，对小脑共济失调患者以及基底神经节患者进行了测试。结果显示基底神经节患者和遗传性共济失调患者均存在嗅觉缺陷。有必要对遗传性共济失调患者的嗅觉能力进行进一步探究，以阐明这些缺陷的具体性质。
