Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054 Erlangen, Germany.
Neurosci Lett. 2012 Mar 5;511(1):43-6. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2012.01.034. Epub 2012 Jan 24.
The olfactory system plays an important role in both animal and human anxiety reactions. However, results on olfactory performance during the course of clinical anxiety disorders remain scarce. Therefore, we conducted an exploratory pilot study in 17 patients currently diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Patients participated in olfactory and psychological testing and were compared to 17 healthy controls. Statistical analyses revealed significant deficits concerning olfactory discrimination in patients, while no changes in threshold and identification ability occurred. Most interestingly, patients showed higher intensity estimates and an increased rating range concerning olfactory hedonic judgements. Results are discussed in light of prior findings and related to neural correlates of olfactory perception and anxiety reactions.
嗅觉系统在动物和人类的焦虑反应中都起着重要作用。然而，在临床焦虑障碍过程中嗅觉表现的结果仍然很少。因此，我们对 17 名目前被诊断为焦虑障碍的患者进行了一项探索性的初步研究。患者参加了嗅觉和心理测试，并与 17 名健康对照组进行了比较。统计分析显示，患者的嗅觉辨别能力存在显著缺陷，而阈值和识别能力没有变化。最有趣的是，患者在嗅觉愉悦判断方面表现出更高的强度估计和更大的评分范围。研究结果结合了先前的研究结果，讨论了与嗅觉感知和焦虑反应相关的神经相关性。
