Olfactory performance during childhood. II. Developing a discrimination task for children

Richman, Robert A.; Sheehe, Paul R.; Wallace, Kristin; Hyde, Jennifer M.; Coplan, James

doi:10.1016/s0022-3476(95)70074-9

Cited by 37 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…We found no differences for either age or gender. Our results differ from those of Richman et al, 15 who tested children aged 3 to 17 years. They showed better olfactory abilities in older children than in younger and in girls than in boys.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

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Olfactory Evaluation in Children: Application to the CHARGE Syndrome

Chalouhi¹,

Faulcon

Bihan-Benjamin

et al. 2005

Pediatrics

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ABSTRACT. Objective. To find an efficient tool for testing olfactory function in children and use it to investigate a group of children with CHARGE (coloboma, congenital heart disease, choanal atresia, mental and growth retardation, genital anomalies, and ear malformations and hearing loss) syndrome.Methods. We adapted for children an olfaction test that had just been validated in an adult French population and investigated a control group of 25 healthy children aged 6 to 13 years. We then tested the olfactory capacity of a group of 14 children with CHARGE syndrome, aged 6 to 18 years. A questionnaire was completed with the parents about their children's feeding difficulties and their ability to recognize odors in everyday life. We recorded and scored the histories of feeding behavior anomalies, the visual and auditory status, and current intellectual levels. MRI of the olfactory tracts and bulbs was analyzed for 9 of 14 children.Results. We showed that healthy children have similar olfactory function to that of the adult control group, which was representative of the general population, without any difference for either gender or age. We also showed that all children with CHARGE syndrome had olfactory deficiency. Half of them were anosmic, and the others had olfactory residual function (hyposmic). We found no association between olfactory deficiency and feeding behavior, visual or auditory impairment, or intellectual level. Parental subjective evaluations were accurate for only half of the group. All of the MRIs showed anomalies of the olfactory tracts and bulbs varying from moderate hypoplasia to complete aplasia, without any relation between the radiologic and the functional results.Conclusions. Olfaction can be assessed in children, even the young and disabled. Our results support the proposition that rhinencephalon anomalies should be included as a major criterion for the diagnosis of CHARGE syndrome. ABBREVIATIONS. CHARGE, coloboma, congenital heart disease, choanal atresia, mental and growth retardation, genital anomalies, and ear malformations and hearing loss; PEA, phenylethylalcohol. O lfaction has always been and remains the most neglected sense in studies of child development and behavior, the main reasons being the poor knowledge concerning the role of olfaction in human development and behavior and the lack of available tools for investigating olfaction, in particular in children. Development of the olfactory system begins very early in the human embryo; olfactory bulbs have their definitive structure at day 56. Then, cells of the olfactory placode differentiate to gonadotropic cells and migrate to the hypothalamic region along the terminal nerve (cranial nerve 0), the olfactory nerve (cranial nerve 1), and the vomeronasal nerve. One part of the olfactory system projects to the anterior part of the hypothalamus for odor perception and discrimination; the other projects to the limbic system and the hippocampus for the behavioral impact of olfaction and olfactory emotional memory. 1 The Jacobson vome...

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…12 Several studies have shown that olfaction improves from the age when it becomes testable (7-8 years of age) until the age of ϳ40 years. [13][14][15][16] These observations may be attributable to the methods of olfaction testing and are discussed later. After puberty, girls have better olfaction abilities than boys.…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

Olfactory Evaluation in Children: Application to the CHARGE Syndrome

Chalouhi¹,

Faulcon

Bihan-Benjamin

et al. 2005

Pediatrics

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“…Using standard methods of detection threshold or odor discrimination, memory, and identification, they enhanced our knowledge on developing human olfactory abilities (Jehl and Murphy 1998;Koelega 1994;Richman et al 1992Richman et al , 1995bStevenson et al 2007). However, approaches situated in more ecologically valid settings are needed to better understand how olfaction is effectively used in human everyday life.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Age actually involves both individual (e.g., level of cognitive development, and thus information processing abilities) and environmental parameters (e.g., amount of olfactory experience/exposure to odors). As a consequence, the abilities to discriminate, memorize, and identify odors (in laboratory conditions) have recurrently been shown to improve during childhood (e.g., Hummel et al 2007;Lehrner et al 1999;Richman et al 1995b). Odors of the familiar environment can become meaningful very early in development (e.g., Schaal et al 2000), underlining the importance of exposure effects in the tuning of olfactory skills.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children’s Awareness and Uses of Odor Cues in Everyday Life: A Finland–France Comparison

et al. 2008

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Few studies have investigated how children use their sense of smell in the varied contexts of their everyday life. In the present study, we used the Children's Olfactory Behaviors in Everyday Life questionnaire (COBEL) to investigate developmental and inter-individual differences in attention and reactivity to odors. A total of 130 children (half males; grades 2, 4, and 5) from two European cities (Helsinki, Finland and Dijon, France) took part. Each answered either the French or the Finnish versions of the COBEL questionnaire and performed a cued identification test involving 12 common odorants. We assessed the effect of country, gender, and age on both reported olfactory behavior (total score and separate item scores of the COBEL) and identification performance. Girls and older children were clearly more oriented towards odors in their everyday behaviors and evinced better identification performance. Finnish children tended to report more attention and reactivity to odors. No differences were found between the identification performances of children from the first and the fourth quartiles of the COBEL score distribution (children classified as being among the least and the most reactive/attentive to odors). The COBEL questionnaire is thus complementary to classical, but less ecological, olfactory tests, and easily usable in different countries. The inter-individual variability highlighted by the COBEL corroborates previous findings and warrants further studies in more contrasted cultural groups.

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“…Discrimination tests in the olfactory domain have indicated a lower ability to discriminate odours in 2-to 4-yearold children compared to children over 5 years (Richman et al ., 1995). Discrimination tests have also been applied to the study of the discrimination of sweetness in solutions: 4-year-old children had trouble in differentiating the sweetness, whereas 5-year-old children succeeded better, although not as well as adults (Liem et al ., 2004).…”

Section: Discrimination Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensory testing in new product development: working with children

Nicklaus

2015

Rapid Sensory Profiling Techniques

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Olfactory performance during childhood. II. Developing a discrimination task for children

Cited by 37 publications

References 10 publications

Olfactory Evaluation in Children: Application to the CHARGE Syndrome

Olfactory Evaluation in Children: Application to the CHARGE Syndrome

Children’s Awareness and Uses of Odor Cues in Everyday Life: A Finland–France Comparison

Sensory testing in new product development: working with children

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