Gender-Related Differences in the Correlation between Odor Threshold, Discrimination, Identification, and Cognitive Reserve Index in Healthy Subjects
Background: Many studies suggested that olfactory function could be associated with semantic memory, executive function, and verbal fluency. However, the gender-related association between olfactory function and the cognitive domain is not well investigated. The aim of this study was to estimate gen...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Biology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/12/4/586 |
| _version_ | 1797606320476520448 |
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| author | Carla Masala Paolo Solla Francesco Loy |
| author_facet | Carla Masala Paolo Solla Francesco Loy |
| author_sort | Carla Masala |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Many studies suggested that olfactory function could be associated with semantic memory, executive function, and verbal fluency. However, the gender-related association between olfactory function and the cognitive domain is not well investigated. The aim of this study was to estimate gender-related differences in the relationship between olfactory function and each specific cognitive domain of the Cognitive Reserve Index (CRI) questionnaire, such as education, working activity, and leisure time in healthy subjects. Methods: Two hundred and sixty-nine participants were recruited (158 women and 111 men), with a mean age of 48.1 ± 18.6 years. The CRI questionnaire and Sniffin’ Sticks test were used to evaluate the cognitive reserve and the olfactory function, respectively. Results: In all subjects, significant associations between the odor threshold versus CRI-Education, between the odor discrimina-tion and identification versus CRI-Working activity and CRI-Leisure Time, were found. In women, odor threshold, discrimination, and identification were associated with CRI-Leisure Time, while in men, only a significant association between odor threshold and CRI-Education was observed. Conclusions: Our data, showing significant gender-related associations between olfactory function and CRI scores, suggested the use of olfactory evaluation and cognitive reserve as an important screening tool for the early detection of mild cognitive impairment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:13:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-eb3bcd45f87844349cd211f4c0497c9c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-7737 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:13:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-eb3bcd45f87844349cd211f4c0497c9c2023-11-17T18:24:19ZengMDPI AGBiology2079-77372023-04-0112458610.3390/biology12040586Gender-Related Differences in the Correlation between Odor Threshold, Discrimination, Identification, and Cognitive Reserve Index in Healthy SubjectsCarla Masala0Paolo Solla1Francesco Loy2Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, SP8 Cittadella Universitaria Monserrato, 09042 Cagliari, ItalyDepartment of Neurology, University of Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 10, 07100 Sassari, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, SP8 Cittadella Universitaria Monserrato, 09042 Cagliari, ItalyBackground: Many studies suggested that olfactory function could be associated with semantic memory, executive function, and verbal fluency. However, the gender-related association between olfactory function and the cognitive domain is not well investigated. The aim of this study was to estimate gender-related differences in the relationship between olfactory function and each specific cognitive domain of the Cognitive Reserve Index (CRI) questionnaire, such as education, working activity, and leisure time in healthy subjects. Methods: Two hundred and sixty-nine participants were recruited (158 women and 111 men), with a mean age of 48.1 ± 18.6 years. The CRI questionnaire and Sniffin’ Sticks test were used to evaluate the cognitive reserve and the olfactory function, respectively. Results: In all subjects, significant associations between the odor threshold versus CRI-Education, between the odor discrimina-tion and identification versus CRI-Working activity and CRI-Leisure Time, were found. In women, odor threshold, discrimination, and identification were associated with CRI-Leisure Time, while in men, only a significant association between odor threshold and CRI-Education was observed. Conclusions: Our data, showing significant gender-related associations between olfactory function and CRI scores, suggested the use of olfactory evaluation and cognitive reserve as an important screening tool for the early detection of mild cognitive impairment.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/12/4/586olfactory functionsmellSniffin’ Sticksolfactioncognitive reserve index |
| spellingShingle | Carla Masala Paolo Solla Francesco Loy Gender-Related Differences in the Correlation between Odor Threshold, Discrimination, Identification, and Cognitive Reserve Index in Healthy Subjects Biology olfactory function smell Sniffin’ Sticks olfaction cognitive reserve index |
| title | Gender-Related Differences in the Correlation between Odor Threshold, Discrimination, Identification, and Cognitive Reserve Index in Healthy Subjects |
| title_full | Gender-Related Differences in the Correlation between Odor Threshold, Discrimination, Identification, and Cognitive Reserve Index in Healthy Subjects |
| title_fullStr | Gender-Related Differences in the Correlation between Odor Threshold, Discrimination, Identification, and Cognitive Reserve Index in Healthy Subjects |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gender-Related Differences in the Correlation between Odor Threshold, Discrimination, Identification, and Cognitive Reserve Index in Healthy Subjects |
| title_short | Gender-Related Differences in the Correlation between Odor Threshold, Discrimination, Identification, and Cognitive Reserve Index in Healthy Subjects |
| title_sort | gender related differences in the correlation between odor threshold discrimination identification and cognitive reserve index in healthy subjects |
| topic | olfactory function smell Sniffin’ Sticks olfaction cognitive reserve index |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/12/4/586 |
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