title: Study on the sense of taste in a group of Sicilian centenarians.
abstract: The sense of taste was studied in a group of 20 centenarians from Eastern Sicily, displaying a mini mental state examination (MMSE) score higher than 19. Control subjects were 20 adult (mean age 27.7 +/- 3.2 years) and 20 elderly subjects (mean age 71.3 +/- 5.5 years). Although it has been revealed that centenarians retain considerably the capacity to perceive tastes, they displayed statistically significant reductions (p < 0.001) in taste functions for sweet, sour, salty and bitter, as compared to both the adult and elderly controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Catania, Via Messina, 829, l-95126 Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Receputo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mazzoleni
authors.forename: I D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Fazio
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alessandria
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Savia
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Scarpinato
authors.forename: F B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Tomasello
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laurino
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fornaro