Do the blinds smell better?
If people lose a sense organ, there is thought to be an increase in the remaining sensory functions. Previous studies showed ambiguous results on this topic. In a prospective matched pair case-control study on 46 blind and 46 normal-sighted subjects, the olfactory performance was examined using the Sniffin' Sticks Test [threshold-discrimination-identification (TDI) test], determining the olfactory threshold, the identification and the discrimination performance. There was no significant difference between the groups. Neither the overall olfactory performance (TDI score) nor any of its subtests did correlate with the vision or with the duration of blindness. The study could not detect any superior smell abilities of blind subjects as compared to sighted subjects.
Jan Christoffer
JC
Luers
Stefanie
S
Mikolajczak
Moritz
M
Hahn
Claus
C
Wittekindt
Dirk
D
Beutner
Karl-Bernd
KB
Hüttenbrink
Michael
M
Damm
D000328:Adult; D001766:Blindness / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055696:Olfactory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*