Department of Autonomic Neuroscience, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, 35-2 Sakaecho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-0015, Japan.
Department of Exploring End-of-Life Care for the Elderly, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan.
J Physiol Sci. 2022 Apr 1;72(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s12576-022-00832-6.
We recently reported that subjects with a higher olfactory identification threshold for rose odor declined more in attentional ability in the elderly. This study focuses on discrimination ability and olfactory identification threshold in twelve elderly subjects living in a community (age: 80.9 ± 1.6). Olfactory function was assessed by the rose odor identification threshold. We assessed the discrimination ability by distinguishing 5 similar odor pairs. Our results showed that the subjects with a higher olfactory identification threshold (≥ 5) declined more in discrimination ability (14% ± 14%, p = 0.03) compared to those with a lower threshold (≤ 4) (averaged value set at 100%). As discrimination ability is related to the basal forebrain cholinergic system, our results suggest that olfactory impairment links to the decline in cognitive function relating the cholinergic system.
我们最近报道称，玫瑰嗅觉识别阈较高的受试者在老年人的注意力能力下降更多。本研究关注的是 12 名居住在社区的老年人（年龄：80.9±1.6）的辨别能力和嗅觉识别阈。嗅觉功能通过玫瑰气味识别阈来评估。我们通过区分 5 对相似的气味来评估辨别能力。结果表明，嗅觉识别阈较高（≥5）的受试者在辨别能力方面下降更多（14%±14%，p=0.03），而嗅觉识别阈较低（≤4）的受试者（平均值设定为 100%）下降较少。由于辨别能力与基底前脑胆碱能系统有关，我们的结果表明，嗅觉障碍与与胆碱能系统相关的认知功能下降有关。
