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Olfactory identification in non-demented elderly population and in mild cognitive impairment: a comparison of performance in clinical odor identification versus Boston Naming Test

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Abstract

Performance in olfactory identification was studied in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), using slightly expanded standard clinical approach to study the olfactory nerve. Four hundred and eighty-six cognitively normal individuals and 72 individuals with MCI underwent spontaneous and cued odor identification and delayed odor recall. Performance in these was compared with the performance in the CERAD version of the Boston Naming Test (BNT). The individuals with MCI scores significantly worse in all tests compared with controls, but the performance in tests assessing odor were less impaired than performance in the BNT. Standard assessment of olfactory nerve function is not sufficient to study cognitive impairment in MCI.

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Abbreviations

AD:

Alzheimer’s disease

BNT:

Boston Naming Test

CC-SIT:

Cross-cultural smell identification test

CDR:

Clinical dementia rating

CERAD:

Consortíum to establish a registry for Alzheimer’s disease

DSM-IV:

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition

MCI:

Mild cognitive impairment

MMSE:

Mini-mental state examination

UPSIT:

University of Pennsylvania smell identification test

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by the Aging Program of the Academy of Finland (48138), EVO grant of Kuopio University Hospital (5772720), and the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Kuopio University Hospital, Bldg. 5, P. O. Box 1777, 70211, Kuopio, Finland

    Mikko P. Laakso & Hilkka Soininen

  2. Department of Clinical Radiology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    Mikko P. Laakso

  3. Brain Research Unit, Clinical Research Centre, Mediteknia, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland

    Susanna Tervo, Tuomo Hänninen & Merja Hallikainen

  4. Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Niuvanniemi Hospital, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland

    Matti Vanhanen

Authors
  1. Mikko P. Laakso
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  2. Susanna Tervo
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  3. Tuomo Hänninen
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  4. Matti Vanhanen
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  5. Merja Hallikainen
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  6. Hilkka Soininen
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Correspondence to Mikko P. Laakso.

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Laakso, M.P., Tervo, S., Hänninen, T. et al. Olfactory identification in non-demented elderly population and in mild cognitive impairment: a comparison of performance in clinical odor identification versus Boston Naming Test. J Neural Transm 116, 891–895 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-009-0235-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-009-0235-8

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