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3. |
- Buchanan, E. M., et al.
(author)
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The Psychological Science Accelerator's COVID-19 rapid-response dataset
- 2023
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In: Scientific Data. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2052-4463. ; 10:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data.
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4. |
- Jones, Benedict C, et al.
(author)
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To which world regions does the valence-dominance model of social perception apply?
- 2021
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In: Nature Human Behaviour. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3374. ; 5:1, s. 159-169
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Over the past 10 years, Oosterhof and Todorov's valence-dominance model has emerged as the most prominent account of how people evaluate faces on social dimensions. In this model, two dimensions (valence and dominance) underpin social judgements of faces. Because this model has primarily been developed and tested in Western regions, it is unclear whether these findings apply to other regions. We addressed this question by replicating Oosterhof and Todorov's methodology across 11 world regions, 41 countries and 11,570 participants. When we used Oosterhof and Todorov's original analysis strategy, the valence-dominance model generalized across regions. When we used an alternative methodology to allow for correlated dimensions, we observed much less generalization. Collectively, these results suggest that, while the valence-dominance model generalizes very well across regions when dimensions are forced to be orthogonal, regional differences are revealed when we use different extraction methods and correlate and rotate the dimension reduction solution. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: The stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 5 November 2018. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7611443.v1 .
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5. |
- Parma, Valentina, et al.
(author)
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More Than Smell—COVID-19 Is Associated With Severe Impairment of Smell, Taste, and Chemesthesis
- 2020
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In: Chemical Senses. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 45:7, s. 609-622
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent anecdotal and scientific reports have provided evidence of a link between COVID-19 and chemosensory impairments, such as anosmia. However, these reports have downplayed or failed to distinguish potential effects on taste, ignored chemesthesis, and generally lacked quantitative measurements. Here, we report the development, implementation, and initial results of a multilingual, international questionnaire to assess self-reported quantity and quality of perception in 3 distinct chemosensory modalities (smell, taste, and chemesthesis) before and during COVID-19. In the first 11 days after questionnaire launch, 4039 participants (2913 women, 1118 men, and 8 others, aged 19–79) reported a COVID-19 diagnosis either via laboratory tests or clinical assessment. Importantly, smell, taste, and chemesthetic function were each significantly reduced compared to their status before the disease. Difference scores (maximum possible change ±100) revealed a mean reduction of smell (−79.7 ± 28.7, mean ± standard deviation), taste (−69.0 ± 32.6), and chemesthetic (−37.3 ± 36.2) function during COVID-19. Qualitative changes in olfactory ability (parosmia and phantosmia) were relatively rare and correlated with smell loss. Importantly, perceived nasal obstruction did not account for smell loss. Furthermore, chemosensory impairments were similar between participants in the laboratory test and clinical assessment groups. These results show that COVID-19-associated chemosensory impairment is not limited to smell but also affects taste and chemesthesis. The multimodal impact of COVID-19 and the lack of perceived nasal obstruction suggest that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus strain 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection may disrupt sensory-neural mechanisms.
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6. |
- Cedres, Nira, et al.
(author)
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Subjective Impairments in Olfaction and Cognition Predict Dissociated Behavioral Outcomes
- 2022
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In: The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1079-5014 .- 1758-5368. ; 78:1, s. 1-9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Self-rated subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and subjective olfactory impairment (SOI) are associated with objective cognitive decline and dementia. However, their relationship and co-occurrence is unknown. We aimed to (a) describe the occurrence of SOI, SCD and their overlap in the general population; (b) compare SOI and SCD in terms of longitudinal associations with corresponding objective olfactory and cognitive measures; and (c) describe how SOI and SCD may lead to distinct sensory and cognitive outcomes.Methods: Cognitively unimpaired individuals from the third wave of the Swedish population-based Betula study (n = 784, aged 35–90 years; 51% females) were split into self-rated SOI, SCD, overlapping SCD + SOI, and controls. Between-subject and within-subject repeated-measures MANCOVA were used to compare the groups regarding odor identification, cognition, age, sex, and education. Spearman correlation was used to assess the different patterns of association between olfaction and cognition across groups.Results: SOI was present in 21.1%, whereas SCD was present in 9.9% of participants. According to a chi-square analysis, the SCD + SOI overlap (2.7%) is on a level that could be expected if the phenomena were independent. Odor identification in SOI showed decline at the 10-year follow-up (n = 284) and was positively associated with cognition. The SOI and SCD groups showed distinct cognitive-olfactory profiles at follow-up.Conclusions: SOI occur independently of SCD in the population, and these risk factors are associated with different cognitive and olfactory outcomes. The biological causes underlying SOI and SCD, as well as the risk for future cognitive impairment, need further investigation.
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7. |
- Gerkin, Richard C., et al.
(author)
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Recent Smell Loss Is the Best Predictor of COVID-19 Among Individuals With Recent Respiratory Symptoms
- 2021
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In: Chemical Senses. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 46
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In a preregistered, cross-sectional study, we investigated whether olfactory loss is a reliable predictor of COVID-19 using a crowdsourced questionnaire in 23 languages to assess symptoms in individuals self-reporting recent respiratory illness. We quantified changes in chemosensory abilities during the course of the respiratory illness using 0–100 visual analog scales (VAS) for participants reporting a positive (C19+; n = 4148) or negative (C19−; n = 546) COVID-19 laboratory test outcome. Logistic regression models identified univariate and multivariate predictors of COVID-19 status and post-COVID-19 olfactory recovery. Both C19+ and C19− groups exhibited smell loss, but it was significantly larger in C19+ participants (mean ± SD, C19+: −82.5 ± 27.2 points; C19−: −59.8 ± 37.7). Smell loss during illness was the best predictor of COVID-19 in both univariate and multivariate models (ROC AUC = 0.72). Additional variables provide negligible model improvement. VAS ratings of smell loss were more predictive than binary chemosensory yes/no-questions or other cardinal symptoms (e.g., fever). Olfactory recovery within 40 days of respiratory symptom onset was reported for ~50% of participants and was best predicted by time since respiratory symptom onset. We find that quantified smell loss is the best predictor of COVID-19 amongst those with symptoms of respiratory illness. To aid clinicians and contact tracers in identifying individuals with a high likelihood of having COVID-19, we propose a novel 0–10 scale to screen for recent olfactory loss, the ODoR-19. We find that numeric ratings ≤2 indicate high odds of symptomatic COVID-19 (4 < OR < 10). Once independently validated, this tool could be deployed when viral lab tests are impractical or unavailable.
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8. |
- Menelaou, Georgios, et al.
(author)
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Hippocampal subfield volumes and olfactory performance : Emerging longitudinal associations over a 5-year interval
- 2022
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In: Neuropsychologia. - : Elsevier. - 0028-3932 .- 1873-3514. ; 176
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Olfaction, the sense of smell, provides important behavioral functions in many species. The hippocampus (HC) is critical for identifying odors, and hippocampal volume is associated with odor identification ability. Impaired odor identification is often reported in old age and might provide an early marker of cognitive decline and dementia. Here, we explored cross-sectional (n = 225) and longitudinal (n = 118) associations between odor identification ability and hippocampal subfield volumes in a sample of middle-aged and older persons (25-80 years). In older participants, longitudinally decreasing volumes of the hippocampal tail, subiculum, CA4 and the dentate gyrus correlated with changes in odor identification. None of these correlations were observed in younger participants, but there was a significant correlation between longitudinal volume reduction in the tail subfield of the hippocampus and odor identification change across all participants. There were no significant cross-sectional associations between hippocampal subfields and odor identification. These exploratory results provide new information regarding precisely where and when declining HC subfield volumes might be associated with odor identification.
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9. |
- Olofsson, Tor, et al.
(author)
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Patient-Reported Outcomes Are More Important Than Objective Inflammatory Markers for Sick Leave in Biologics-Treated Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis
- 2018
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In: Arthritis Care and Research. - : Wiley. - 2151-464X .- 2151-4658. ; 70:11, s. 1712-1716
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: To study the impact of common noncomposite disease activity measures on sick leave in biologics-treated patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: Data from study visits by biologics-treated RA patients of working age (<65 years) in the observational South Swedish Arthritis Treatment Group Register between 2005 and 2011, were included (5,118 visits by 941 patients). We performed association analyses between various noncomposite disease activity measures at each visit and the number of days of sick leave during the subsequent month; this information was retrieved from the Social Insurance Agency. Adjusted separate generalized estimating equation regression models were used, and analyses were stratified according to sick leave status for the month preceding each visit (no, partial, or full sick leave). Results are presented as standardized beta coefficients for comparability. Results: Among modifiable noncomposite disease activity measures, patient's assessment of pain and disease activity scored on a visual analog scale (VAS) were most strongly associated with subsequent sick leave, irrespective of baseline sick leave status. Generally, measures that were more objective (swollen joint count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein) had less impact on sick leave compared with variables that were more subjective (patient's pain and global scores on a VAS, evaluator's global assessment of disease activity on a 5-grade Likert scale, and tender joint count). Conclusion: Measures of disease activity that are more subjective have a greater impact on sick leave in biologics-treated patients with RA compared with variables that are more objective, suggesting a stronger focus on subjective measures when targeting work loss or intervening to reduce it.
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10. |
- Andersson, Linus, 1979-, et al.
(author)
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Effects of Task Demands on Olfactory, Auditory, and Visual Event-Related Potentials Suggest Similar Top-Down Modulation Across Senses
- 2018
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In: Chemical Senses. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 43:2, s. 129-134
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A widely held view is that top-down modulation of sensory information relies on an amodal control network that acts through the thalamus to regulate incoming signals. Olfaction lacks a direct thalamic projection, which suggests that it may differ from other modalities in this regard. We investigated the late positive complex (LPC) amplitudes of event-related potentials (ERP) from 28 participants, elicited by intensity-matched olfactory, auditory and visual stimuli, during a condition of focused attention, a neutral condition, and a condition in which stimuli were to be actively ignored. Amplitudes were largest during the attend condition, lowest during the ignore condition, with the neutral condition in between. A Bayesian analysis resulted in strong evidence for similar effects of task across sensory modalities. We conclude that olfaction, despite its unique neural projections, does not differ from audition and vision in terms of task-dependent neural modulation of the LPC.
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11. |
- Arshamian, Artin, 1979-, et al.
(author)
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Sniff Your Way to Clarity : The Case of Olfactory Imagery
- 2008
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In: CHEMOSENSORY PERCEPTION. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1936-5802 .- 1936-5810. ; 1:4, s. 242-246
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study addressed the effects of blocking spontaneous sniffing during olfactory imagery. A group of subjects (n=40) who scored high in olfactory focus and imagery ability rated the vividness in olfactory and visual imagery content under conditions of blocked sniffing, blocked vision, and a nonblocked control. The imagery stimuli consisted of 90 common words that could represent either an odor or a visual object. Blocked sniffing was expected to impair olfactory imagery vividness, but since visual imagery entails eye movements, which was not affected by the ""blocked vision"" manipulation, visual imagery ratings were effectively used as a placebo control. Confirming our hypotheses, the results showed that preventing sniffing resulted in a selectively poorer olfactory but not visual vividness, whereas blocked vision showed no effect on either the visual or olfactory vividness ratings. These observations confirm that sensorimotor activity is an important aspect for the quality of evoked olfactory images.
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12. |
- Björkman, Anne, 1981, et al.
(author)
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Tundra Trait Team: A database of plant traits spanning the tundra biome
- 2018
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In: Global Ecology and Biogeography. - : Wiley. - 1466-822X .- 1466-8238. ; 27:12, s. 1402-1411
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- © 2018 The Authors Global Ecology and Biogeography Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Motivation: The Tundra Trait Team (TTT) database includes field-based measurements of key traits related to plant form and function at multiple sites across the tundra biome. This dataset can be used to address theoretical questions about plant strategy and trade-offs, trait–environment relationships and environmental filtering, and trait variation across spatial scales, to validate satellite data, and to inform Earth system model parameters. Main types of variable contained: The database contains 91,970 measurements of 18 plant traits. The most frequently measured traits (>1,000 observations each) include plant height, leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf fresh and dry mass, leaf dry matter content, leaf nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus content, leaf C:N and N:P, seed mass, and stem specific density. Spatial location and grain: Measurements were collected in tundra habitats in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, including Arctic sites in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Fennoscandia and Siberia, alpine sites in the European Alps, Colorado Rockies, Caucasus, Ural Mountains, Pyrenees, Australian Alps, and Central Otago Mountains (New Zealand), and sub-Antarctic Marion Island. More than 99% of observations are georeferenced. Time period and grain: All data were collected between 1964 and 2018. A small number of sites have repeated trait measurements at two or more time periods. Major taxa and level of measurement: Trait measurements were made on 978 terrestrial vascular plant species growing in tundra habitats. Most observations are on individuals (86%), while the remainder represent plot or site means or maximums per species. Software format: csv file and GitHub repository with data cleaning scripts in R; contribution to TRY plant trait database (www.try-db.org) to be included in the next version release.
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13. |
- Brämerson, Annika, 1960, et al.
(author)
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Event-related potentials in patients with olfactory loss.
- 2008
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In: Acta oto-laryngologica. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1651-2251 .- 0001-6489. ; 128:10, s. 1126-31
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- CONCLUSION: The olfactory event-related potential (OERP) method provides a means of objectively assessing olfactory function. However, further validation is needed before OERPs can be routinely applied in clinical assessment of olfactory dysfunction. OBJECTIVE: To assess OERPs in patients with olfactory impairment and in healthy controls to investigate possible dose-response effects of odor concentration on OERP parameters in these groups, thereby exploring possibilities and limitations regarding the clinical utility of the OERP method. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Twenty-three patients with a history of impaired olfactory function and 24 controls participated in the study. Olfactory function was assessed with psychophysical tests, i.e. assessment of the odor threshold, and odor identification. OERPs were obtained in response to the olfactory stimulant butanol at two different concentrations, presented via an olfactometer. RESULTS: The OERP amplitudes increased and the latencies shortened with increasing stimulus concentration. Furthermore, a difference between the groups was found, with higher OERP amplitudes and shorter latencies in healthy subjects compared with patients.
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14. |
- Chung, B P M, et al.
(author)
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Overcoming existential loneliness : a cross-cultural study
- 2020
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In: BMC Geriatrics. - : BioMed Central. - 1471-2318. ; 20:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Moving into a long-term care facility (LTCF) can reduce the ability for older adults to engage in meaningful roles and activities and the size of their social network. These changes and losses can lead them to experience existential loneliness (EL)-the intolerable emptiness and lack of meaningful existence resulted from the losses they have experienced. While EL has often been understood as a universal human experience, it has primarily been studied in people from Western cultures; little is known about how EL may be experienced by and manifested in people from Eastern cultures. Hence, this qualitative study aimed to describe the experience and coping of EL in Hong Kong Chinese and Swedish older adults living in LTCFs.METHODS: A qualitative study using Thorne's (2004) interpretive description was conducted. Thirteen Chinese and 9 Swedes living in LTCFs in Hong Kong, China and Malmo, Sweden, respectively were interviewed about their experience of EL in two series of semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.RESULTS: The core theme of "overcoming EL" described the participants' experience of EL, which came about through the combined process of "Feeling EL" and "Self-Regulating". Both Chinese and Swedish participants had similar experience with EL. Realizing that they did not want to living with EL anymore, they coped by reframing their experience and identifying new meaning in their life.CONCLUSIONS: The study findings suggested that early and clear counselling support that help older adults to define new meaning in life may help them cope. In addition, more opportunities should be available at the LTCFs to promote quality relationships, enable older adults to reflect on their lives with pride, and support their ability to do the things they enjoy.
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15. |
- Cornell Kärnekull, Stina, et al.
(author)
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Affected by Smells? : Environmental Chemical Responsivity Predicts Odor Perception
- 2011
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In: Chemical Senses. - Oxford : Oxford University Press. - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 36:7, s. 641-648
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Strong negative reactions, physical symptoms, and behavioral disruptions due to environmental odors are common in the adult population. We investigated relationships among such environmental chemosensory responsivity (CR), personality traits, affective states, and odor perception. Study 1 showed that CR and neuroticism were positively correlated in a sample of young adults (n = 101), suggesting that persons high in neuroticism respond more negatively to environmental odors. Study 2 explored the relationships among CR, noise responsivity (NR), neuroticism, and odor perception (i.e., pleasantness and intensity) in a subset of participants (n = 40). High CR was associated with high NR. Regression analyses indicated that high CR predicted higher odor intensity ratings and low olfactory threshold (high sensitivity) predicted lower pleasantness ratings. However, neuroticism was not directly associated with odor ratings or thresholds. Overall, the results suggest that CR and odor thresholds predict perceptual ratings of odors and that high CR is associated with nonchemosensory affective traits.
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16. |
- Dillner, Joakim, et al.
(author)
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Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and risk of past or future sick leave
- 2021
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Nature. - 2045-2322. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The extent that antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 may protect against future virus-associated disease is unknown. We invited all employees (n=15,300) at work at the Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden to participate in a study examining SARS-Cov-2 antibodies in relation to registered sick leave. For consenting 12,928 healthy hospital employees antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 could be determined and compared to participant sick leave records. Subjects with viral serum antibodies were not at excess risk for future sick leave (adjusted odds ratio (OR) controlling for age and sex: 0.85 [95% confidence interval (CI) (0.85 (0.43-1.68)]. By contrast, subjects with antibodies had an excess risk for sick leave in the weeks prior to testing [adjusted OR in multivariate analysis: 3.34 (2.98-3.74)]. Thus, presence of viral antibodies marks past disease and protection against excess risk of future disease. Knowledge of whether exposed subjects have had disease in the past or are at risk for future disease is essential for planning of control measures.Trial registration: First registered on 02/06/20, ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04411576.
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17. |
- Dintica, Christina S., et al.
(author)
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Joint trajectories of episodic memory and odor identification in older adults : patterns and predictors
- 2021
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In: Aging. - : Impact Journals, LLC. - 1945-4589. ; 13:13, s. 17080-17096
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Emerging evidence suggests that olfactory function is closely linked to memory function. The aims of this study were to assess whether olfactory and episodic memory functions follow similar age-related decline trajectories, to identify different patterns of decline, as well as predictors of the patterns. 1023 participants from the Memory and Aging Project were followed for up to 8 years with annual episodic memory and odor identification assessments. Trajectories were modelled using growth mixture models. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify pattern predictors. Three patterns of joint trajectories were identified; Class 1- stable average performance in both functions (n=690, 67.4%); Class 2- stable average episodic memory and declining odor identification (n=231, 22.6%); and Class 3- decline in both functions (n=102, 10.0%). Class predictors included age, sex, APOE epsilon 4 status, cognitive activity level and BMI. Participants in Class 3 were most likely to develop dementia. Episodic memory and olfactory function show similar trajectories in aging. Such classification can contribute to a better understanding of the factors related to cognitive decline and dementia.
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18. |
- East, Brett S., et al.
(author)
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Human Apolipoprotein E Genotype Differentially Affects Olfactory Behavior and Sensory Physiology in Mice
- 2018
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In: Neuroscience. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4522 .- 1873-7544. ; 380, s. 103-110
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) is an important lipid carrier in both the periphery and the brain. The ApoE epsilon 4 allele (ApoE4) is the single most important genetic risk-factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) while the epsilon 2 allele (ApoE2) is associated with a lower risk of AD-related neurodegeneration compared to the most common variant, epsilon 3 (ApoE3). ApoE genotype affects a variety of neural circuits; however, the olfactory system appears to provide early biomarkers of ApoE genotype effects. Here, we directly compared olfactory behavior and olfactory system physiology across all three ApoE genotypes in 6-month- and 12-month-old mice with targeted replacement for the human ApoE2, ApoE3, or ApoE4 genes. Odor investigation and habituation were assessed, along with, olfactory bulb and piriform cortical local field potential activity. The results demonstrate that while initial odor investigation was unaffected by ApoE genotype, odor habituation was impaired in E4 relative to E2 mice, with E3 mice intermediate in function. There was also significant deterioration of odor habituation from 6 to 12 months of age regardless of the ApoE genotype. Olfactory system excitability and odor responsiveness were similarly determined by ApoE genotype, with an ApoE4 > ApoE3 > ApoE2 excitability ranking. Although motivated behavior is influenced by many processes, hyper-excitability of ApoE4 mice may contribute to impaired odor habituation, while hypo-excitability of ApoE2 mice may contribute to its protective effects. Given that these ApoE mice do not have AD pathology, our results demonstrate how ApoE affects the olfactory system at early stages, prior to the development of AD.
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19. |
- Ekström, Ingrid, et al.
(author)
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Smell Loss Predicts Mortality Risk Regardless of Dementia Conversion
- 2017
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In: Journal of The American Geriatrics Society. - : Wiley. - 0002-8614 .- 1532-5415. ; 65:6, s. 1238-1243
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ObjectivesTo determine whether dementia could explain the association between poor olfactory performance and mortality risk within a decade-long follow-up period.DesignProspective cohort study.SettingBetula Study, Umeå, Sweden.ParticipantsA population-based sample of adult participants without dementia at baseline aged 40 to 90 (N = 1,774).MeasurementsOlfactory performance using the Scandinavian Odor-Identification Test (SOIT) and self-reported olfactory function; several social, cognitive, and medical risk factors at baseline; and incident dementia during the following decade.ResultsWithin the 10-year follow-up, 411 of 1,774 (23.2%) participants had died. In a Cox model, the association between higher SOIT score and lower mortality was significant (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.74 per point interval, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.71-0.77, P < .001). The effect was attenuated, but remained significant, after controlling for age, sex, education, and health-related and cognitive variables (HR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.87-0.97, P = .001). The association between SOIT score and mortality was retained after controlling for dementia conversion before death (HR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.87-0.97, P = .001). Similar results were obtained for self-reported olfactory dysfunction.ConclusionPoor odor identification and poor self-reported olfactory function are associated with greater likelihood of future mortality. Dementia does not attenuate the association between olfactory loss and mortality, suggesting that olfactory loss might mark deteriorating health, irrespective of dementia.
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20. |
- Ekström, Ingrid, 1988-, et al.
(author)
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Subjective Olfactory Loss in Older Adults Concurs with Long-Term Odor Identification Decline
- 2019
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In: Chemical Senses. - Oxford : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 44:2, s. 105-112
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Olfactory impairments may provide early indications of future health outcomes in older adults. Thus, an important question concerns whether these impairments can be self-assessed. Previous findings of cross-sectional studies indicate low correlations between self-reported olfactory function and objective olfactory performance. On the other hand, subjective olfactory impairments predict future dementia and mortality in longitudinal settings. No previous study has assessed the relationship between subjectively and objectively measured decline in olfaction over time. Based on data for 903 older adults derived from the Betula Study, a Swedish population-based prospective study, we tested whether rate-of-change in odor identification could be predicted from subjective olfactory decline over a time span of 10 years during which subjective and objective odor functions were assessed on 2 or 3 test occasions. Indeed, we found that participants who experienced subjective olfactory decline over the study period also had significantly steeper rates of decline in odor identification, even after adjusting for demographic, cognitive, and genetic factors that previously have been associated with performance in odor identification. This association was, however, not present in a subsample with baseline cognitive impairment. We interpret these results as evidence that when asked about whether they have an olfactory impairment or not, older persons are assessing intraindividual olfactory changes, rather than interindividual differences. Our results indicate that subjective olfactory loss reflects objective olfactory decline in cognitively intact older adults. This association might be harnessed to predict health outcomes and highlights the need to develop effective olfactory self-assessments.
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21. |
- Hedner, Margareta, et al.
(author)
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Age-Related Olfactory Decline is Associated with the BDNF Val66met Polymorphism : Evidence from a Population-Based Study
- 2010
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In: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1663-4365. ; 2:7, s. 24-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The present study investigates the effect of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) val66met polymorphism on change in olfactory function in a large scale, longitudinal population-based sample (n = 836). The subjects were tested on a 13 item force-choice odor identification test on two test occasions over a 5-year-interval. Sex, education, health-related factors, and semantic ability were controlled for in the statistical analyses. Results showed an interaction effect of age and BDNF val66met on olfactory change, such that the magnitude of olfactory decline in the older age cohort (70–90years old at baseline) was larger for the val homozygote carriers than for the met carriers. The older met carriers did not display larger age-related decline in olfactory function compared to the younger group. The BDNF val66met polymorphism did not affect the rate of decline in the younger age cohort (45–65years). The findings are discussed in the light of the proposed roles of BDNF in neural development and maintenance.
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22. |
- Hörberg, Thomas, 1979-, et al.
(author)
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A parosmia severity index based on word-classification predicts olfactory abilities and impairment
- 2023
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In: European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology. - : Springer Nature. - 0937-4477 .- 1434-4726. ; 280:8, s. 3695-3706
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Parosmia is an olfactory disorder that involves distortions of specific odors that may co-occur with anosmia, loss of smell of other odors. Little is known about which odors frequently trigger parosmia, and measures of parosmia severity are lacking. Here, we present an approach to understand and diagnose parosmia that is based on semantic properties (e.g., valence) of words describing odor sources (“fish”, “coffee”, etc.). Using a data-driven method based on natural language data, we identified 38 odor descriptors. Descriptors were evenly dispersed across an olfactory-semantic space, which was based on key odor dimensions. Parosmia patients (n = 48) classified the corresponding odors in terms of whether they trigger parosmic or anosmic sensations. We investigated whether these classifications are related to semantic properties of the descriptors. Parosmic sensations were most often reported for words describing unpleasant odors of inedibles that are highly associated to olfaction (e.g., “excrement”). Based on PCA modeling, we derived the Parosmia Severity Index—a measure of parosmia severity that can be determined solely from our non-olfactory behavioral task. This index predicts olfactory-perceptual abilities, self-reported olfactory impairment, and depression. We thus provide a novel approach for investigating parosmia and establishing its severity that does not require odor exposure. Our work may enhance our understanding of how parosmia changes over time and how it is expressed differently across individuals.
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23. |
- Hörberg, Thomas, et al.
(author)
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Incongruent odors suppress perceptual categorization of visual objects : Behavioral and ERP evidence
- 2024
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Visual stimuli often dominate non-visual stimuli during multisensory perception, and evidence suggests higher cognitive processes prioritize visual over non-visual stimuli during divided attention. Visual stimuli may therefore have privileged access to higher mental processing resources, relative to other senses, and should be disproportionally distracting when processing incongruent cross-sensory stimuli. We tested this assumption by comparing visual processing with olfaction, a “primitive” sensory channel that detects potentially hazardous chemicals by alerting attention. Behavioral and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were assessed in a bimodal object categorization task with congruent or incongruent odor-picture pairings and a delayed auditory response target. For congruent pairings, accuracy was higher for visual compared to olfactory decisions. However, for incongruent pairings, reaction times (RTs) were faster for olfactory decisions, suggesting incongruent odors interfered more with visual decisions, thereby showing an “olfactory dominance effect”. Categorization of incongruent pairings engendered a late “slow wave” ERP effect. Importantly, this effect had a later amplitude peak and longer latency during visual decisions, likely reflecting additional categorization effort for visual stimuli. In sum, contrary to what might be inferred from theories of ”visual dominance”, incongruent odors may in fact uniquely attract mental processing resources during perceptual incongruence.
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24. |
- Hörberg, Thomas, 1979-, et al.
(author)
-
Olfactory Influences on Visual Categorization : Behavioral and ERP Evidence
- 2020
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In: Cerebral Cortex. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1047-3211 .- 1460-2199. ; 30:7, s. 4220-4237
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Visual stimuli often dominate nonvisual stimuli during multisensory perception. Evidence suggests higher cognitive processes prioritize visual over nonvisual stimuli during divided attention. Visual stimuli should thus be disproportionally distracting when processing incongruent cross-sensory stimulus pairs. We tested this assumption by comparing visual processing with olfaction, a “primitive” sensory channel that detects potentially hazardous chemicals by alerting attention. Behavioral and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were assessed in a bimodal object categorization task with congruent or incongruent odor–picture pairings and a delayed auditory target that indicated whether olfactory or visual cues should be categorized. For congruent pairings, accuracy was higher for visual compared to olfactory decisions. However, for incongruent pairings, reaction times (RTs) were faster for olfactory decisions. Behavioral results suggested that incongruent odors interfered more with visual decisions, thereby providing evidence for an “olfactory dominance” effect. Categorization of incongruent pairings engendered a late “slow wave” ERP effect. Importantly, this effect had a later amplitude peak and longer latency during visual decisions, likely reflecting additional categorization effort for visual stimuli in the presence of incongruent odors. In sum, contrary to what might be inferred from theories of “visual dominance,” incongruent odors may in fact uniquely attract mental processing resources during perceptual incongruence.
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25. |
- Hörberg, Thomas, 1979-, et al.
(author)
-
The semantic organization of the English odor vocabulary
- 2019
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Most people find it difficult to name familiar odors. Many languages, including English, lack a vocabulary devoted to describing odor qualities (compared to, e.g., a color term vocabulary), and little is known about the vocabulary used to describe odors. Attempts to establish “primary odor descriptors” have been unsuccessful. To date, research on odor vocabulary has rarely been done from a data-driven, empirical perspective.We present a study on the semantic organization of odor vocabulary, based on the distribution of words in olfactory and gustatory contexts, using a three-billion-word corpus of written English. Using a data-driven, computational linguistic approach developed in our lab, we quantify terms with respect to the degree of olfactory-semantic content they convey. We then derive the semantic organization of the top 200 olfactory-related terms, using a distributional-semantic word vector model, which represent semantic distances as multidimensional vector distances. The model is trained on olfactory and gustatory contexts, using the word2vec neural network implementation. Based on the semantic distances, we then use dimensionality reduction and clustering techniques (i.e., PCA and hierarchical clustering) to derive a 3-dimensional, corpus-based semantic space, and six principal descriptor clusters.Using distances based on the Draveneiks odor-term ratings data set, we also derive a semantic space with six specific clusters for the Draveneiks terms. The organization and clustering of our corpus-based semantic space match with the ratings-based semantic space, thereby showing the viability of our corpus-based approach. Based on our corpus-based data, we finally propose a novel domain-general odor term taxonomy (i.e., a domain-general odor wheel) that captures the dimensions and clusters identified in our analyses.
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26. |
- Hörberg, Thomas, 1979-, et al.
(author)
-
The semantic organization of the English odor vocabulary
- 2019
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Most people find it difficult to name familiar odors (e.g. Herz & Engen, 1996; Jönsson & Stevenson, 2014). Most languages, including English, lack a vocabulary that is devoted to describing odor qualities (as compared to, e.g., a color term vocabulary). Across languages, olfaction has been shown to be the sense with the poorest linguistic codability (i.e. naming consistency, see e.g. Majid et al., 2018). Instead of using devoted, abstract terms for describing odors, speakers of many languages often resort to source-based (e.g. ‘citrusy’) odor descriptions, and relatively little is still known about the vocabulary that is used to describe odors. Attempts to establish “primary odor descriptors” have been unsuccessful in describing wider varieties of odor qualities, and no standard has been agreed upon (e.g. Kaeppler & Mueller, 2013).To date, research on odor vocabulary has rarely been done from a data-driven, empirical perspective.We present a study on the semantic organization of the odor vocabulary, based on the distribution of words in olfactory and gustatory contexts, using a three-billion-word corpus of written English. Using a data-driven, computational linguistic approach recently developed in our lab (Iatropoulos et al., 2018), we quantify terms with respect to degree of olfactory-semantic content they convey. We then derive the semantic organization of the top 200 olfactory-related terms, using a distributional-semantic word vector model, which represents semantic distances as vector distances in a multidimensional space. In order to capture olfactory and gustatory word senses, the model is trained on olfactory and gustatory contexts, using the word2vec neural network implementation (Mikolov, Chen, Corrado, & Dean, 2013). Based on the semantic distances, we then use dimensionality reduction and clustering techniques (i.e., PCA and hierarchical clustering) to derive a 3-dimensional, corpus-based semantic space of the descriptors, and six principal descriptor clusters.Using descriptor distances based on the Draveneiks odor-term rating data set (Dravnieks, 1992), we also derive a semantic space with six specific clusters for the Draveneiks terms. The organization and clustering of our corpus-based semantic space matches with the ratings-based semantic space, thereby showing the viability of our corpus-based approach. Based on our analyses of the corpus-based data, we finally propose a novel domain-general odor term taxonomy (i.e., a domain-general odor wheel) that captures the dimensions and clusters identified in our analyses.Dravnieks, A. (1992). Atlas of odor character profiles. Philadelphia, PA, USA: American Society for Testing and Materials.Herz, R. S., & Engen, T. (1996). Odor memory: Review and analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 3(3), 300–313.Iatropoulos, G., Herman, P., Lansner, A., Karlgren, J., Larsson, M., & Olofsson, J. K. (2018). The language of smell: Connecting linguistic and psychophysical properties of odor descriptors. Cognition, 178, 37–49.Jönsson, F. U., & Stevenson, R. J. (2014). Odor Knowledge, Odor Naming, and the “Tip-of-the-Nose” Experience. I B. L. Schwartz & A. S. Brown (Red.), Tip-of-the-Tongue States and Related Phenomena (s. 305–326).Kaeppler, K., & Mueller, F. (2013). Odor Classification: A Review of Factors Influencing Perception-Based Odor Arrangements. Chemical Senses, 38(3), 189–209.Majid, A., Roberts, S. G., Cilissen, L., Emmorey, K., Nicodemus, B., O’Grady, L., … Levinson, S. C. (2018). Differential coding of perception in the world’s languages. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(45), 11369–11376.Mikolov, T., Chen, K., Corrado, G., & Dean, J. (2013). Efficient Estimation of Word Representations in Vector Space. arXiv:1301.3781 [cs].
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27. |
- Hörberg, Thomas, 1979-, et al.
(author)
-
The Semantic Organization of the English Odor Vocabulary
- 2022
-
In: Cognitive science. - : Wiley. - 0364-0213 .- 1551-6709. ; 46:11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The vocabulary for describing odors in English natural language is not well understood, as prior studies of odor descriptions have often relied on preselected descriptors and odor ratings. Here, we present a data-driven approach that automatically identifies English odor descriptors based on their degree of olfactory association, and derive their semantic organization from their distributions in natural texts, using a distributional-semantic language model. We identify 243 descriptors that are much more strongly associated with olfaction than English words in general. We then derive the semantic organization of these olfactory descriptors, and find that it is captured by four clusters that we name Offensive, Malodorous, Fragrant, and Edible. The semantic space derived from our model primarily differentiates descriptors in terms of pleasantness and edibility along which our four clusters are positioned, and is similar to a space derived from perceptual data. The semantic organization of odor vocabulary can thus be mapped using natural language data (e.g., online text), without the limitations of odor-perceptual data and preselected descriptors. Our method may thus facilitate research on olfaction, a sensory system known to often elude verbal description.
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28. |
- Iatropoulos, Georgios, et al.
(author)
-
The language of smell : Connecting linguistic and psychophysical properties of odor descriptors
- 2018
-
In: Cognition. - : Elsevier BV. - 0010-0277 .- 1873-7838. ; 178, s. 37-49
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The olfactory sense is a particularly challenging domain for cognitive science investigations of perception, memory, and language. Although many studies show that odors often are difficult to describe verbally, little is known about the associations between olfactory percepts and the words that describe them. Quantitative models of how odor experiences are described in natural language are therefore needed to understand how odors are perceived and communicated. In this study, we develop a computational method to characterize the olfaction related semantic content of words in a large text corpus of internet sites in English. We introduce two new metrics: olfactory association index (OAI, how strongly a word is associated with olfaction) and olfactory specificity index (OSI, how specific a word is in its description of odors). We validate the OAI and OSI metrics using psychophysical datasets by showing that terms with high OM have high ratings of perceived olfactory association and are used to describe highly familiar odors. In contrast, terms with high OSI have high inter-individual consistency in how they are applied to odors. Finally, we analyze Dravnieks's (1985) dataset of odor ratings in terms of OAI and OSI. This analysis reveals that terms that are used broadly (applied often but with moderate ratings) tend to be olfaction-unrelated and abstract (e.g., heavy or light; low OAI and low OSI) while descriptors that are used selectively (applied seldom but with high ratings) tend to be olfaction-related (e.g., vanilla or licorice; high OM). Thus, OAI and OSI provide behaviorally meaningful information about olfactory language. These statistical tools are useful for future studies of olfactory perception and cognition, and might help integrate research on odor perception, neuroimaging, and corpus-based linguistic models of semantic organization.
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29. |
- Josefsson, Maria, et al.
(author)
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APOE-epsilon 4 effects on longitudinal decline in olfactory and non-olfactory cognitive abilities in middle-aged and old adults
- 2017
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 7
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Characterizing aging-related decline trajectories in mental abilities, and relationships of the epsilon 4 allele of the Apolipoprotein gene, helps to identify individuals at high risk for dementia. However, longitudinal changes in olfactory and non-olfactory cognitive abilities have not been investigated in relation to the epsilon 4 allele. In the present study, participants from a large population-based study (657 middle-aged and 556 old) were tested over 10 years on their performance on an odor identification task and three non-olfactory cognitive tasks; MMSE, episodic memory, and semantic memory. Our key finding is that in middle-aged participants, odor identification declined twice as fast for epsilon 4/4 homozygotes, compared to non-carriers. However, in old participants, the epsilon 4/4 homozygotes showed an impaired odor identification ability, but they declined at a similar rate as the non-carriers. Furthermore, in old participants all assessments displayed aging-related declines, but exaggerated declines in epsilon 4-carriers were found only in MMSE and episodic memory assessments. In sum, we present evidence that odor identification ability starts to decline already in middle-aged, and that carriers of epsilon 4/4, who are at highest risk of developing dementia, decline twice as fast. Our results may have implications for use of odor identification assessment in detection of early-stage dementia.
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30. |
- Kallioinen, Petter, 1973-, et al.
(author)
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Semantic processing in children with Cochlear Implants : A review of current N400 studies and recommendations for future research
- 2023
-
In: Biological Psychology. - : Elsevier. - 0301-0511 .- 1873-6246. ; 182
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Deaf and hard of hearing children with cochlear implants (CI) often display impaired spoken language skills. While a large number of studies investigated brain responses to sounds in this population, relatively few focused on semantic processing. Here we summarize and discuss findings in four studies of the N400, a cortical response that reflects semantic processing, in children with CI. A study with auditory target stimuli found N400 effects at delayed latencies at 12 months after implantation, but at 18 and 24 months after implantation effects had typical latencies. In studies with visual target stimuli N400 effects were larger than or similar to controls in children with CI, despite lower semantic abilities. We propose that in children with CI, the observed large N400 effect reflects a stronger reliance on top-down predictions, relative to bottom-up language processing. Recent behavioral studies of children and adults with CI suggest that top-down processing is a common compensatory strategy, but with distinct limitations such as being effortful. A majority of the studies have small sample sizes (N < 20), and only responses to image targets were studied repeatedly in similar paradigms. This precludes strong conclusions. We give suggestions for future research and ways to overcome the scarcity of participants, including extending research to children with conventional hearing aids, an understudied group.
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31. |
- KARLSSON WALLMAN, JOHAN, et al.
(author)
-
Costs in Relation to Disability, Disease Activity, and Health-related Quality of Life in Rheumatoid Arthritis : Observational Data from Southern Sweden
- 2016
-
In: Journal of Rheumatology. - : The Journal of Rheumatology. - 0315-162X .- 1499-2752. ; 43:7, s. 1292-1299
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective. To compare how costs relate to disability, disease activity, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. Antitumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF)-treated patients with RA in southern Sweden (n = 2341) were monitored 2005-2010. Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28), and EQ-5D scores were linked to register-derived costs of antirheumatic drugs (excluding anti-TNF agents), patient care, and work loss from 30 days before to 30 days after each visit (n = 13,289). Associations of HAQ/DAS28/EQ-5D to healthcare (patient care and drugs) and work loss costs (patients <65 yrs) were studied in separate regression models, comparing standardized â coefficients by nonparametric bootstrapping to assess which measure best reflects costs. Analyses were conducted based on both individual means (linear regression, comparing between-patient associations) and by generalized estimating equations (GEE), using all observations to also account for within-patient associations of HAQ/DAS28/EQ-5D to costs. Results. Regardless of the methodology (linear or GEE regression), HAQ was most closely related to both cost types, while work loss costs were also more closely associated with EQ-5D than DAS28. The results of the linear models for healthcare costs were standardized β = 0.21 (95% CI 0.15-0.27), 0.16 (0.11-0.21), and -0.15 (-0.21 to -0.10) for HAQ/DAS28/EQ-5D, respectively (p <0.05 for HAQ vs DAS28/EQ-5D). For work loss costs, the results were standardized β = 0.43 (95% CI 0.39-0.48), 0.27 (0.23-0.32), and -0.34 (-0.38 to 0.29) for HAQ/DAS28/EQ-5D, respectively (p <0.05 for HAQ vs DAS28/EQ-5D and for EQ-5D vs DAS28). Conclusion. Overall, HAQ disability is a better marker of RA costs than DAS28 or EQ-5D HRQOL.
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32. |
- Kubik, Veit, et al.
(author)
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Effects of testing on subsequent re-encoding and long-term forgetting of action-relevant materials : On the influence of recall type
- 2015
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. - : Wiley. - 0036-5564 .- 1467-9450. ; 56:5, s. 475-481
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Testing one's memory of previously studied information reduces the rate of forgetting, compared to restudy. However, little is known about how this direct testing effect applies to action phrases (e.g., wash the car) - a learning material relevant to everyday memory. As action phrases consist of two different components, a verb (e.g., wash) and a noun (e.g., car), testing can either be implemented as noun-cued recall of verbs or verb-cued recall of nouns, which may differently affect later memory performance. In the present study, we investigated the effect of testing for these two recall types, using verbally encoded action phrases as learning materials. Results showed that repeated study-test practice, compared to repeated study-restudy practice, decreased the forgetting rate across 1 week to a similar degree for both noun-cued and verb-cued recall types. However, noun-cued recall of verbs initiated more new subsequent learning during the first restudy, compared to verb-cued recall of nouns. The study provides evidence that testing has benefits on both subsequent restudy and long-term retention of action-relevant materials, but that these benefits are differently expressed with testing via noun-cued versus verb-cued recall.
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33. |
- Kubik, Veit, et al.
(author)
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Putting action memory to the test : Testing affects subsequent restudy but not long-term forgetting of action events
- 2016
-
In: Journal of Cognitive Psychology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2044-5911 .- 2044-592X. ; 28:2, s. 209-219
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Testing memory typically enhances subsequent re-encoding of information (“indirect” testing effect) and, as compared to restudy, it also benefits later long-term retention (“direct” testing effect). We investigated the effect of testing on subsequent restudy and 1-week retention of action events (e.g. “water the plant”). In addition, we investigated if the type of recall practice (noun-cued vs. verb-cued) moderates these testing benefits. The results showed an indirect testing effect that increased following noun-cued recall of verbs as compared to verb-cued recall of nouns. In contrast, a direct testing effect on the forgetting rate of performed actions was not reliably observed, neither for noun- nor verb-cued recall. Thus, to the extent that this study successfully dissociated direct and indirect testing-based enhancements, they seem to be differentially effective for performed actions, and may rely on partially different mechanisms.
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34. |
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35. |
- Larsson, Maria, et al.
(author)
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Differential Age and Sex Effects in Semantic Recognition of Odors and Words
- 2009
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In: Acta Psychologica Sinica. - : Science Press. - 0439-755X. ; 41:11, s. 1049-1053
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study examined the impact of age and sex on olfactory function as determined by a cued odor identification test and on semantic knowledge as indexed by a vocabulary test using a large population-based sample. 1497 healthy adults varying in age from 35 to 95 years were assessed in odor identification and in vocabulary proficiency. The results showed that aging exhibited negative repercussions on performance in both tests, although the age effect was stronger in the olfactory task. Corroborating previous observations, females identified more odors than men irrespective of age. The implications of the findings are discussed.
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36. |
- Larsson, Maria, et al.
(author)
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Loss of Olfactory Function Predicts Mortality Irrespective of Dementia Conversion : 10-year follow-up of an age-varied sample
- 2016
-
In: Chemical Senses. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 41:9, s. e111-e288
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The objective of this study was to examine the association between performance in odor identification and future mortality in a community cohort of adults aged between 40 and 90 years. We assessed olfactory performance with a 13-item-version of the Scandinavian Odor Identification Test (SOIT). The results showed that during follow-up (mean=9.4 years, standard deviation=2.23), 411 of 1774 (23.2%) participants died. In a Cox model, the association between higher SOIT score and mortality was highly significant (hazard ratio [HR]=0.74, per point interval, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.71–0.77, p<0.001). The effect was attenuated, but remained significant after controlling for age, sex, education, and health and cognitive variables that were also associated with an increased risk of mortality (HR=0.92, 95% CI=0.87–0.97, p=0.001). Controlling for dementia conversion prior to death did not attenuate the association between SOIT score and mortality (HR=0.92, 95% CI=0.87–0.97, p=0.001). Similar results were obtained for olfactory sensitivity as assessed by self-report. Overall, the present findings show that poor odor identification performance is associated with an increased likelihood of future mortality in middle-aged and older adults, after controlling for social, cognitive, and medical risk factors. Most importantly, controlling for the development of dementia did not attenuate the association between odor identification and mortality, suggesting that olfactory decline might mark deteriorating health also irrespective of dementia.
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37. |
- Laukka, Erika J, 1986-, et al.
(author)
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Olfactory impairment and domain‐specific cognitive decline : A 12‐year population‐based study
- 2023
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In: Alzheimer's & Dementia. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1552-5260 .- 1552-5279. ; 19:S18
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Olfactory impairment has been associated with both cognitive impairment and dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study aimed to investigate the association between olfactory dysfunction (OD) and change trajectories in different cognitive domains in aging. Method: Participants (n = 2473, mean age = 72 years, 61% female) from the population-based Swedish National study on Aging and Care-Kungsholmen (SNAC-K) were repeatedly assessed with tasks measuring episodic memory, semantic memory, verbal fluency, and perceptual speed across 12 years. OD was measured at baseline and participants were categorized as normosmic, hyposmic, or anosmic based on the Sniffin’ Sticks odor identification task. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess the associations between baseline OD and rates of cognitive decline. Result: OD was related to poorer baseline performance and faster rates of decline during follow-up in all examined domains, as well as in global cognition. Associations were generally more pronounced for anosmia compared to hyposmia. Conclusion: Olfactory impairment is associated with accelerated decline in aging across a wide range of cognitive domains.
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38. |
- Lindroos, Robert, 1980-, et al.
(author)
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Perceptual odor qualities predict successful odor identification in old age
- 2022
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In: Chemical Senses. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 47
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Odor identification is a common assessment of olfaction, and it is affected in a large number of diseases. Identification abilities decline with age, but little is known about whether there are perceptual odor features that can be used to predict identification. Here, we analyzed data from a large, population-based sample of 2,479 adults, aged 60 years or above, from the Swedish National study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen. Participants performed both free and cued odor identification tests. In a separate experiment, we assessed perceived pleasantness, familiarity, intensity, and edibility of all odors in the first sample, and examined how odor identification performance is associated with these variables. The analysis showed that high-intensity odors are easier to identify than low-intensity odors overall, but also that they are more susceptible to the negative repercussions of old age. This result indicates that sensory decline is a major aspect of age-dependent odor identification impairment, and suggests a framework where identification likelihood is proportional to the perceived intensity of the odor. Additional analyses further showed that high-performing individuals can discriminate target odors from distractors along the pleasantness and edibility dimensions and that unpleasant and inedible odors show smaller age-related differences in identification. Altogether, these results may guide further development and optimization of brief and efficient odor identification tests as well as influence the design of odorous products targeted toward older consumers.
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39. |
- Liuzza, Marco Tullio, et al.
(author)
-
Body odor disgust sensitivity independently predicts authoritarian attitudes
- 2016
-
Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The behavioral immune system (BIS) provides us a set of emotional and behavioral responses to avoid the threat of pathogens. Individual differences in BIS can make some individuals endorse social values that minimize the contact with groups that might be perceived unfamiliar or deviant. Disgust is one of the emotions that is most consistently involved in the BIS and it has been found to be consistently related to socially conservative attitudes. Disgust sensitivity to body odors plays a crucial role in the BIS but it has been largely understated by research linking disgust sensitivity. We the developed a new scale that measures individual differences in body odors disgust sensitivity (BODS) and assessed how this measure related to conservative attitudes. We hypothesized that the BODS should relate to social, but not economic, conservatism, as only the latter should share common motives with the BIS. Furthermore, we hypothesized that the BODS should share more core motives with conservatism and thus it should at least partially mediate the relationship between general disgust sensitivity measures and conservatism. We developed a 30 items measure of BODS where participants had to rate how they would feel disgusted in five different scenarios involving six body odors consistently linked to disease detection. We ran three studies (N = 200, N = 159 and N = 269) through Amazon Mechanical Turk where we collected participants’ differences in: BODS, three domains of disgust (TDD) (studies 1-3), disgust sensitivity (DS, studies 2-3), Perceived Vulnerability to Disease (PVD, studies 2-3) and in social conservatism (Right-Wing Authoritarianism RWA, studies 1-3) and economic conservatism (Social Dominance Orientation, SDO, study 3). We ran zero order correlations to assess the relationship between BODS, other Disgust Sensitivity measures and conservatism measures. Akaike Information Criterion based stepwise model selection procedures were used to identify the variables that mostly accounted for participants’ variance in conservatism. Mediation analyses were ran to test the hypothesis that BODS could mediate, at least partially the relationship between general disgust sensitivity measures and conservatism.Results: Across three studies we found that 1) BODS has good convergent validity with other measures of general disgust sensitivity (Studies 1-3) 2) BODS is consistently and independently related to RWA even when taking into account DS-R and/or TDD (Studies 1-3) 3) BODS relates to social, but not economic conservatism 4) BODS at least partially mediates the relationship between general disgust sensitivity measures and social conservatism (Studies 1-3). Our results show that body odor disgust sensitivity independently predicts socially conservative attitudes, and our findings suggest that the study of the biological basis of social attitudes would benefit from an increased focus on basic sensory-emotional processes. While our approach is broadly congruent with current theoretical frameworks emphasizing the evolutionary roots of disgust in basic chemosensory processes, an increased empirical focus on body odor perception might provide a unique link between pathogen detection and social regulation mechanisms.
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40. |
- Liuzza, Marco Tullio, et al.
(author)
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Body Odor Disgust Sensitivity Predicts Moral Harshness Toward Moral Violations of Purity
- 2019
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In: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-1078. ; 10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Detecting pathogen threats and avoiding disease is fundamental to human survival. The behavioral immune system (BIS) framework outlines a set of psychological functions that may have evolved for this purpose. Disgust is a core emotion that plays a pivotal role in the BIS, as it activates the behavioral avoidance motives that prevent people from being in contact with pathogens. To date, there has been little agreement on how disgust sensitivity might underlie moral judgments. Here, we investigated moral violations of “purity” (assumed to elicit disgust) and violations of “harm” (assumed to elicit anger). We hypothesized that individual differences in BIS-related traits would be associated with greater disgust (vs. anger) reactivity to, and greater condemnation of Purity (vs. Harm) violations. The study was pre-registered (https://osf.io/57nm8/). Participants (N = 632) rated scenarios concerning moral wrongness or inappropriateness and regarding disgust and anger. To measure individual differences in the activation of the BIS, we used our recently developed Body Odor Disgust Scale (BODS), a BIS-related trait measure that assesses individual differences in feeling disgusted by body odors. In line with our predictions, we found that scores on the BODS relate more strongly to affective reactions to Purity, as compared to Harm, violations. In addition, BODS relates more strongly to Moral condemnation than to perceived Inappropriateness of an action, and to the condemnation of Purity violations as compared to Harm violations. These results suggest that the BIS is involved in moral judgment, although to some extent this role seems to be specific for violations of “moral purity,” a response that might be rooted in disease avoidance. Data and scripts to analyze the data are available on the Open Science Framework (OSF) repository: https://osf.io/tk4x5/. Planned analyses are available at https://osf.io/x6g3u/.
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41. |
- Liuzza, Marco Tullio, et al.
(author)
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Body Odor Trait Disgust Sensitivity Predicts Perception of Sweat Biosamples
- 2017
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In: Chemical Senses. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 42:6, s. 479-485
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Body odors are potent triggers of disgust and regulate social behaviors in many species. The role of olfaction in disgust-associated behaviors has received scant attention in the research literature, in part because olfactory disgust assessments have required laboratory testing with odors. We have devised the Body Odor Disgust Scale (BODS) to facilitate research on olfactory disgust. In this study, we evaluated whether individual differences in BODS scores would be associated with the perception of disgust for sweat samples in a laboratory setting. Results show that BODS was a strong predictor of disgust ratings of sweat samples even when controlling for general disgust sensitivity. In contrast, odor intensity ratings were unrelated to BODS scores. Our findings suggest that the BODS scores reflect body odor disgust perception. The BODS scale might facilitate research on olfactory disgust responses and associated behaviors.
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42. |
- Liuzza, Marco Tullio, et al.
(author)
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Body odour disgust sensitivity predicts authoritarian attitudes
- 2018
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In: Royal Society Open Science. - : The Royal Society. - 2054-5703. ; 5:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Authoritarianism has resurfaced as a research topic in political psychology, as it appears relevant to explain current political trends. Authoritarian attitudes have been consistently linked to feelings of disgust, an emotion that is thought to have evolved to protect the organism from contamination. We hypothesized that body odour disgust sensitivity (BODS) might be associated with authoritarianism, as chemo-signalling is a primitive system for regulating interpersonal contact and disease avoidance, which are key features also in authoritarianism. We used well-validated scales for measuring BODS, authoritarianism and related constructs. Across two studies, we found that BODS is positively related to authoritarianism. In a third study, we showed a positive association between BODS scores and support for Donald Trump, who, at the time of data collection, was a presidential candidate with an agenda described as resonating with authoritarian attitudes. Authoritarianism fully explained the positive association between BODS and support for Donald Trump. Our findings highlight body odour disgust as a new and promising domain in political psychology research. Authoritarianism and BODS might be part of the same disease avoidance framework, and our results contribute to the growing evidence that contemporary social attitudes might be rooted in basic sensory functions.
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43. |
- Liuzza, Marco Tullio, et al.
(author)
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The Body Odor Disgust Scale (BODS) : Development and Validation of a Novel Olfactory Disgust Assessment
- 2017
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In: Chemical Senses. - : Oxford University Press. - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 42:6, s. 499-508
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Disgust plays a crucial role in the avoidance of pathogen threats. In many species, body odors provide important information related to health and disease, and body odors are potent elicitors of disgust in humans. With this background, valid assessments of body odor disgust sensitivity are warranted. In the present article, we report the development and psychometric validation of the Body Odor Disgust Scale (BODS), a measure suited to assess individual differences in disgust reaction to a variety of body odors. Collected data from 3 studies (total n = 528) show that the scale can be used either as a unidimensional scale or as a scale that reflects two hypothesized factors: sensitivity to one's own body odors versus those of others. Guided by our results, we reduced the scale to 12 items that capture the essence of these 2 factors. The final version of the BODS shows an excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha s > 0.9). The BODS subscales show convergent validity with other general disgust scales, as well as with other olfactory functions measures and with aspects of personality that are related to pathogen avoidance. A fourth study confirmed the construct validity of the BODS and its measurement invariance to gender. Moreover, we found that, compared with other general disgust scales, the BODS is more strongly related to perceived vulnerability to disease. The BODS is a brief and valid assessment of trait body odor disgust sensitivity.
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44. |
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45. |
- Morquecho-Campos, Paulina, et al.
(author)
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Achieving Olfactory Expertise : Training for Transfer in Odor Identification
- 2019
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In: Chemical Senses. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 44:3, s. 197-203
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Human olfactory function requires the identification of everyday odors. A characteristic feature of olfaction is that most people find it hard to identify and name common odors, and when odors are presented simultaneously in mixtures, performance is even further compromised. Few studies have systematically assessed how training might enhance identification of single odors and mixtures. This study compared how odor identification training with either single odors or binary mixtures affected identification performance, as well as transfer effects to untrained tasks and odors. Twenty- seven healthy participants (22 F; 28.0 +/- 4.7 years old) completed identification training of 8 odors using a list of 16 veridical names. The study included 8 training sessions, as well as pretest and posttest evaluations. Results suggest notable effects of learning, as well as transfer to novel tasks and odors. Overall, training with single odors led to slightly better results than the binary mixture condition, suggesting that in novices, odor identification may be facilitated via consolidation of single odor objects, before learning to dissociate binary mixtures. Overall, odor identification may be trained to generate transfer of learning, although transfer effects were observed in both training methods. Our work suggests that odor identification abilities, while often limited, are highly trainable.
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46. |
- Niedenthal, Simon, et al.
(author)
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A graspable olfactory display for virtual reality
- 2023
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In: International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. - : Elsevier. - 1071-5819 .- 1095-9300. ; 169
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The sense of smell, olfaction, is seldom engaged in digital interactive systems, but, supported by the proper technology, olfaction might open up new interaction domains. Human olfactory experience involves active exploration, directed sniffing and nuanced judgements about odour identity, concentrations, and blends, yet to date most compact olfactory displays do not directly support these experiences. We describe the development and validation of a compact, low-cost olfactory display fitted to the hand controller of the HTC Vive Virtual Reality (VR) system that employs stepless valves to enable control of scent magnitude and blending (Fig. 1). Our olfactory display allows for concealed (i.e., unknown to the user) combinations of odours with virtual objects and contexts, making it well suited to applications involving interactions with odorous objects in virtual space for recreational, educational, scientific, or therapeutic functions. Through a user study and gas sensor analysis, we have been able to demonstrate that our device presents clear and consistent scent output, is intuitive from a user perspective, and supports gameplay interactions. We present results from a smell training game in a virtual wine tasting cellar in which the initial task of identifying wine aroma components is followed by evaluating more complex blends, allowing the player to “level up” as they proceed to higher degrees of connoisseurship. Novice users were able to quickly adapt to the display, and we found that the device affords sniffing and other gestures that add verisimilitude to olfactory experience in virtual environments. Test-retest reliability was high when participants performed the task two times with the same odours. In sum, the results suggest our olfactory display may facilitate use in game settings and other olfactory interactions.
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47. |
- Niedenthal, Simon, et al.
(author)
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A Handheld Olfactory Display For Smell-Enabled VR Games
- 2019
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In: 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Olfaction and Electronic Nose (ISOEN). - 9781538683279 - 9781538683286 ; , s. 114-117
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We describe a class of olfactory displays located at the hand, well-suited to support exploratory and active smelling behavior. We have developed a handheld olfactory display for the HTC Vive VR environment, and validated it in a two-step method that combines qualitative user evaluation with an empirical task-based study. The results of our qualitative study suggest that handheld olfactory displays may enhance a sense of presence in virtual environments. Our validation method is suitable for testing instruments that engage novel forms of smell interaction, and seek to provide clear and consistent output for empirically-validated olfactory research.
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48. |
- Niedenthal, Simon, et al.
(author)
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A Method for Computerized Olfactory Assessment and Training Outside of Laboratory or Clinical Settings
- 2021
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In: i-Perception. - : SAGE Publications. - 2041-6695. ; 12:3, s. 1-12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There are currently few ways to reliably and objectively assess olfaction outside of the research laboratory or clinic. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for remote olfactory assessment; in particular, smell training at home is a promising method for olfactory rehabilitation, but further methodological advances might enhance its effectiveness and range of use. Here, we present Exerscent, a portable, low-cost olfactory display designed primarily for uses outside of the laboratory and that can be operated with a personal computer. Exerscent includes Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags that are attached to odor stimuli and read with a MFRC522 module RFID reader/antenna that encodes the odor in order to provide adaptive challenges for the user (e.g., an odor identification task). Hardware parts are commercially available or 3D printed. Instructions and code for building the Exerscent are freely available online (https://osf.io/kwftm/). As a proof of concept, we present a case study in which a participant trained daily to identify 54 odors, improving from 81% to 96% accuracy over 16 consecutive days. In addition, results from a laboratory experiment with 11 volunteers indicated a very high level of perceived usability and engagement. Exerscent may be used for olfactory skills development (e.g., perfumery, enology), and rehabilitation purposes (e.g., postviral olfactory loss), but it also allows for other forms of technological interactions such as olfactory-based recreational interactions.
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49. |
- Nordin, Steven, 1960-, et al.
(author)
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A longitudinal descriptive study of self-reported abnormal smell and taste perception in pregnant women
- 2004
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In: Chemical Senses. - : Oxford University Press. - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 29:5, s. 391-402
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Self-reported abnormal sensitivity, qualitative distortions and phantom sensations with respect to smell and taste was assessed with a longitudinal design, based on questions referring to gestational weeks 13–16 and 31–34 of pregnancy in comparison with 9–12 weeks post partum and with non-pregnant women with corresponding time durations and intervals. The results show that abnormal smell and/or taste perception was reported by 76% of the pregnant women, typically believed to be caused by their pregnancy. Increased smell sensitivity was found to be very common at the early stage of pregnancy (67% of all pregnant respondents) and occasionally accompanied by qualitative smell distortions (17%) and phantom smells (14%). The smell abnormalities were less common at the late pregnancy stage and almost absent post partum. Abnormal taste sensitivity was fairly commonly reported (26%), often described as increased bitter sensitivity and decreased salt sensitivity. These results, suggesting that abnormal smell and/or taste perception is experienced by a large majority of pregnant women, imply that further research is needed to understand to what extent these chemosensory changes may underlie food aversions and craving with implications for food intake during pregnancy.
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50. |
- Nordin, Steven, et al.
(author)
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Evaluation of auditory, visual and olfactory event-related potentials for comparing interspersed- and single-stimulus paradigms
- 2011
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In: International Journal of Psychophysiology. - : Elsevier. - 0167-8760 .- 1872-7697. ; 81:3, s. 252-262
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: An interspersed-stimulus paradigm (ISP) for event-related potential (ERP) recordings in which different sensory modality stimuli are presented within the same test session was developed to minimize recording time and facilitate modality comparison. The present study compared the ISP with a single-stimulus paradigm (SSP), using auditory, visual, and olfactory stimuli. Method: Normal participants (n=16) were assessed on two independent test occasions to obtain data on inter-paradigm and test-retest reliability. Peak amplitude/latency and area measures were obtained for the N1, P2 and P3 peaks for each paradigm. Results: Except for larger auditory and visual P3 peaks and smaller visual P2 peaks in the ISP, no significant differences in amplitudes or latencies were found between the two paradigms. Correlation coef ficients between paradigms were generally fairly high (amplitude mean r=0.76; latency r=0.42). Test–retest reliability within paradigms for amplitudes (ISP r=0.70; SSP r=0.68) and latencies (ISP r=0.44; SSP r=0.42) was similar across paradigms. Conclusion: Thefindings suggest that the ISP, compared to the SSP, produces, in general, highly comparable auditory, visual, and olfactory peak amplitudes and latencies, and comparable reliability estimates, even though the ISP takes much less time to record (25 vs. 50 min). The larger auditory and visual P3 peaks and smaller visual P2 peaks in the ISP may be attributable to a less predictable stimulus environment. Thus, this method enables systematic comparisons of ERP peaks across sensory modalities while reducing testing time. Practical implications are discussed.
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