Odor identification: the blind are better.
Twenty sighted and twenty blind adults, 19 to 66 years of age, participated in tests of olfactory sensitivity to n-butyl alcohol and of identification of 80 everyday odors. The blind had poorer absolute sensitivity, but outperformed the sighted at identification. Age proved an important factor in the comparison; more than half the variance in identification within each group was ascribable to an age-related decline.
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001766:Blindness / Q000523:psychology*; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009812:Odorants; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D012737:Sex Factors; D012903:Smell