Sorokowska Agnieszka
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Smell & Taste Clinic, TU Dresden, Fetscherstr. 74, 01307 Germany and Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, ul. Dawida 1, 50-527 Wroclaw, Poland
Chem Senses. 2016 Oct;41(8):703-9. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjw081. Epub 2016 Jul 20.
Previous examinations of olfactory sensitivity in blind people have produced contradictory findings. Thus, whether visual impairment is associated with increased olfactory abilities is unclear. In the present investigation, I aimed to resolve the existing questions via a relatively large-scale study comprising early-blind (N = 43), and late-blind (N = 41) and sighted (N = 84) individuals matched in terms of gender and age. To compare the results with those of previous studies, I combined data from a free odor identification test, extensive psychophysical testing (Sniffin' Sticks test), and self-assessed olfactory performance. The analyses revealed no significant effects of sight on olfactory threshold, odor discrimination, cued identification, or free identification scores; neither was the performance of the early-blind and late-blind participants significantly different. Additionally, the self-assessed olfactory abilities of the blind people were no different than those of the sighted people. These results suggest that sensory compensation in visually impaired is not pronounced with regards to olfactory abilities as measured by standardized smell tests.
以往对盲人嗅觉敏感性的研究结果相互矛盾。因此，视觉障碍是否与嗅觉能力增强有关尚不清楚。在本研究中，我旨在通过一项规模相对较大的研究来解决现有问题，该研究包括早期失明者（N = 43）、晚期失明者（N = 41）和视力正常者（N = 84），他们在性别和年龄方面相匹配。为了将结果与以往研究进行比较，我整合了来自自由气味识别测试、广泛的心理物理学测试（嗅觉棒测试）以及自我评估的嗅觉表现的数据。分析结果显示，视力对嗅觉阈值、气味辨别、线索识别或自由识别得分均无显著影响；早期失明和晚期失明参与者的表现也没有显著差异。此外，盲人自我评估的嗅觉能力与视力正常者无异。这些结果表明，就标准化嗅觉测试所衡量的嗅觉能力而言，视觉障碍者的感官补偿并不明显。
