Correlation between olfactory function, trigeminal sensitivity, and nasal anatomy in healthy subjects

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Purpose: Few studies have investigated the correlation between chemosensory function (trigeminal and olfactory) and nasal volume in humans, even though nasal anatomy is crucial for the sense of smell. Aim of this study was to evaluate these correlations in normosmic subjects. Methods: Two hundred and fifty-six healthy volunteers (age range 19–69 years) participated. Olfactory function was investigated for (the rose-like) phenylethyl alcohol odor threshold and odor identification (OI) using the Sniffin’ Sticks test, while nasal structure was evaluated by acoustic rhinometry (AR); trigeminal sensitivity was assessed in terms of detection “thresholds” for the odorless carbon dioxide (CO2). Results: There were negative correlations between olfactory sensitivity at threshold level and minimum cross-sectional area (MCSA) in both nostrils. No significant correlations were found between OI and nasal anatomy. Similar to olfactory sensitivity, with regard to the trigeminal stimulus CO2 for the right nostril subjects were the more sensitive the smaller the MCSA. Conclusions: The current results emphasize the significance of nasal anatomy for trigeminal/olfactory threshold perception. Interestingly, correlations were not found between suprathreshold odor identification and nasal anatomy. Other than odor identification, odor thresholds appear to depend on subtle differences in nasal anatomy.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1649-1654
Number of pages6
JournalEuropean archives of oto-rhino-laryngology
Volume276
Issue number6
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2019
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 30843174
ORCID /0000-0001-9713-0183/work/151438492

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • Acoustic rhinometry, Chemosensory system, Nasal anatomy, Olfactory function, Sniffin’ Sticks