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Olfactory Function as a Potential Predictor of Cognitive Impairment in Men and Women
by
, , , , and
Carla Masala
1,*,†
,
Francesco Loy
1,†
,
Ilenia Pinna
1,
Nicoletta Aurora Manis
1,
Tommaso Ercoli
2 and
Paolo Solla
2 1
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, SP 8 Cittadella Universitaria, 09042 Monserrato, Italy
2
Neurological Unit, AOU Sassari, University of Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 10, 07100 Sassari, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Biology 2024, 13(7), 503; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13070503
Submission received: 12 May 2024
/
Revised: 23 June 2024
/
Accepted: 4 July 2024
/
Published: 5 July 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gender-Related Differences in the Correlation between Olfactory Dysfunction and Cognitive Abilities)
Simple Summary
The aim of this study was to analyze the role of each factor of the olfactory function as a predictor of cognitive impairment in relation to gender and age. Our results indicated that in men significant correlations were found in odor threshold versus language index score, as well as in odor identification versus language and executive index score. Instead, in women, odor discrimination and identification were related to visuospatial index score.
Abstract
Background: Different previous studies indicated olfactory function as a predictor of several types of cognitive impairment, in particular related to neurodegenerative disease. However, scanty data are available on the role of odor threshold (OT), odor discrimination (OD), and odor identification (OI) as a predictor of cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to evaluate potential correlations between each factor of the olfactory function versus each specific cognitive domain of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test on healthy subjects in relation to gender and age. Methods: Sniffin’ Sticks and MoCA tests were used to determine olfactory function and cognitive abilities, respectively. Results: In men, significant correlations were found in OT versus language index score and OI versus language and executive index score, while in women, OD and OI were correlated to visuospatial index score. Conclusions: Our data suggested that olfactory function (OT, OD, and OI) may be considered a predictor for cognitive impairment in relation to gender and age.
