TY - JOUR
T1 - Global study of variability in olfactory sensitivity
AU - Oleszkiewicz, Anna
AU - Alizadeh, Rafieh
AU - Altundag, Aytug
AU - Chen, Ben
AU - Corrai, Alessandra
AU - Fanari, Rachele
AU - Farhadi, Mohammad
AU - Gupta, Neelima
AU - Habel, Rebecca
AU - Hudson, Robyn
AU - Hughes, Jessica L.
AU - Joshi, Akshita
AU - Kamrava, Seyed Kamran
AU - Luckett, Curtis
AU - Mahmut, Mehmet K.
AU - Masala, Carla
AU - Mori, Eri
AU - Pellegrino, Robert
AU - Piras, Raffaella
AU - Resler, Katarzyna
AU - Rivas-Castro, Alejandro
AU - Saluja, Supreet
AU - Sharma, Sanskriti
AU - Shimmura, Hajime
AU - Soler, Graciela M.
AU - Stefanczyk, Michał Mikołaj
AU - Sun, Zhifu
AU - Thaploo, Divesh
AU - Wei, Yongxiang
AU - Yan, Xiaoguang
AU - Hummel, Thomas
PY - 2020/10
Y1 - 2020/10
N2 - Variability in human olfactory sensitivity has been attributed to individual-level factors such as genetics, age, sex, medical history of infections and trauma, neurogenerative diseases, and emotional disorders. Scarce evidence exists on the cross-cultural variation in olfactory sensitivity. Hence, we performed 2 studies to estimate the variability in olfactory threshold as a function of location and environment. Study 1 involved 11 laboratories from 4 continents (N = 802). In each location, in a designated laboratory, approximately 80 subjects underwent olfactory sensitivity testing with custom-made tests with eucalyptol and phenylethanol (PEA) odors. Tests were based on the Threshold subtest of the Sniffin' Sticks battery. In Study 2, we compared olfactory sensitivity and suprathreshold perception of PEA and eucalyptol in 2 Chinese (N = 160) and 2 Indian (N = 92) populations-one based in their native country and the other in Germany. Both studies present large-scale evidence that olfactory sensitivity varies as a function of geographical location and suggest that environmental factors play an important role in shaping olfactory sensitivity and suprathreshold olfactory perception. We delineate further steps necessary to identify specific factors underlying uncovered variability and the relationship between olfactory sensitivity and suprathreshold odor perception.
AB - Variability in human olfactory sensitivity has been attributed to individual-level factors such as genetics, age, sex, medical history of infections and trauma, neurogenerative diseases, and emotional disorders. Scarce evidence exists on the cross-cultural variation in olfactory sensitivity. Hence, we performed 2 studies to estimate the variability in olfactory threshold as a function of location and environment. Study 1 involved 11 laboratories from 4 continents (N = 802). In each location, in a designated laboratory, approximately 80 subjects underwent olfactory sensitivity testing with custom-made tests with eucalyptol and phenylethanol (PEA) odors. Tests were based on the Threshold subtest of the Sniffin' Sticks battery. In Study 2, we compared olfactory sensitivity and suprathreshold perception of PEA and eucalyptol in 2 Chinese (N = 160) and 2 Indian (N = 92) populations-one based in their native country and the other in Germany. Both studies present large-scale evidence that olfactory sensitivity varies as a function of geographical location and suggest that environmental factors play an important role in shaping olfactory sensitivity and suprathreshold olfactory perception. We delineate further steps necessary to identify specific factors underlying uncovered variability and the relationship between olfactory sensitivity and suprathreshold odor perception.
KW - olfaction
KW - olfactory sensitivity
KW - mixed olfactory/trigeminal sensitivity
KW - smell
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091959682&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/bne0000378
DO - 10.1037/bne0000378
M3 - Article
VL - 134
SP - 394
EP - 406
JO - Behavioral Neuroscience
JF - Behavioral Neuroscience
SN - 0735-7044
IS - 5
ER -