title: Taste in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: In this prospective study we investigated the quantitative and qualitative taste function of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). 29 healthy, elderly subjects, 29 MCI and 30 AD patients were tested using a validated taste test, the "taste strips". Additionally, odor identification, odor discrimination, odor threshold, the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and Apo E epsilon 4 status were examined. Regarding taste, there was a significant reduction of total taste scores and also the score for individual tastes on either side of the tongue between controls and MCI/AD patients. There was no significant difference in the taste scores between MCI and AD patients. A taste test may be a useful procedure for differentiating between healthy subjects and patients with MCI/AD in a clinical context. For diagnosing MCI versus AD, further tests such as smell test, MMSE, Apo E epsilon 4 status, FDG-PET and MRI appear to be useful.
authors.affiliation: Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Technical University, Fetscherstr. 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany. Silkesteinbach@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Steinbach
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hundt
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vaitl
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Heinrich
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Förster
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bürger
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zahnert
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000235:genetics; D019540:Area Under Curve; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055696:Olfactory Perception; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012372:ROC Curve; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D014059:Tongue / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D053327:Apolipoprotein E4