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While measures to detect psychophysical olfactory ability are a crucial part of clinicians’ assessment of potential olfactory loss, it gives no indication of how olfaction is experienced by the patient and these different aspects often deviate substantially. To ensure quality and reproducibility of subjectively reported olfactory experience and significance, the Importance of Olfaction Questionnaire (IO-Q) was introduced around a decade ago, and while initial validations have produced promising results, important aspects remain nearly unexamined. For example, the test-retest reliability has rarely been examined and the difference of online versus pen-and-paper administration remains unexplored. Here, we translated IO-Q to Danish and examined its validity, test-retest reliability and mode of administration. A cohort of 179 younger, Danish participants with a high level of English proficiency took the test twice with varying time in-between. The first test was taken digitally and in English, while the second was taken using pen-and-paper and in Danish. The distribution of scores and the relationship between the IO-Q and subscale scores were nearly identical between tests, indicating little to no influence of language/test modality in the sampled population. The internal consistency was comparable to previously published results. Likewise, an acceptable test-retest reliability was observed for the full IO-Q and slightly lower for subscales. No significant effect of time was found across several weeks. In conclusion, the IO-Q performed satisfactorily in all examinations and could therefore serve as a valuable clinical measure of subjective olfactory experience, and its Danish translation shows highly similar characteristics to the original, English version.

Becht et al [...]

Subjective hyperosmia refers to a self-reported olfactory ability that is superior to a normal, intact sense of smell (normosmia), and is associated with olfactory emotional experience. The current study used voxel-based morphometry to investigate the gray matter volume (GMV) in people with self-rated hyperosmia (subjective hyperosmia, SH, N = 18) in comparison to people with self-rated normal olfaction (subjective normosmia, SN, N = 14). Participants’ olfactory function were assessed by the extensive olfactory test battery, the “Sniffin’ Sticks” test. Within the predicted brain regions (regions-of-interest analyses), the SH participants showed larger GMV of the left hippocampus as compared to SN participants (FWE corrected p  < 0.05). Further, the whole-brain search indicated that SH had larger GMV of the bilateral hippocampus, the right hypothalamus, the left precuneus, and the left superior frontal gyrus as compared to the SN group. ROI analyses showed positive correlations between the left hippocampal GMV and odor threshold or discrimination scores across all participants. In addition, the whole-brain analysis suggested that the self-rated olfactory ability was positively associated with GMV in the cerebellum, superior frontal gyrus and the precentral gyrus among SH participants. In conclusion, the current results suggest that SH was associated with increased GMV in several brain regions that were previously shown to be involved in the processing of cognitive aspects of odors.

Smell loss affects around 15–20% of the population, with a major effect on the quality of life. The most common complaint is the impairment of the eating experience, with around 90% of patients reporting this issue. A study conducted at a specialised Taste and Smell Clinic investigated if food and cooking can positively affect the enjoyment of food, subjective cooking skills, and quality of life in patients with smell loss. The 49 participants in the study received a 5-week cooking school course that focused on emphasizing the other senses to regain the enjoyment of food. Participants gained more confidence in cooking, and their quality of life improved significantly. Positively evaluated recipes were adjusted based on feedback and published as free e-books in Danish, German, and English. Eating and cooking are multisensory experiences, and the perception of food depends on the complex interaction of senses and surroundings. If the olfactory input is reduced or absent, both the enjoyment and cooking experience can be negatively affected. Therefore, focusing on food and cooking can have a positive impact on patients with smell loss.

Olfactory dysfunction often has severe consequences on patients’ quality of life. The most common complaint in these patients is their reduced enjoyment of food in both patients with olfactory loss and parosmia. How the different types of olfactory dysfunction differ in relation to food and cooking habits, sensory awareness, and food-related quality of life has not yet received much attention. By applying questionnaires on cooking, food, olfactory function, weight changes, sensory awareness, and food-related quality of life, we investigated how various aspects of eating differ between participants with olfactory loss (n = 271), parosmia (n = 251), and normosmic controls (n = 166). Cooking habits in olfactory dysfunction revealed pronounced differences as compared with normosmic controls. Cooking with olfactory dysfunction was associated with, e.g., a lack of comfort and inspiration for cooking and an inability to make new foods successfully. Significant differences in cooking were also found between olfactory loss and parosmia. Food items were less familiar in participants with olfactory loss and parosmia, while the ratings of liking food items differed between olfactory loss and parosmia, indicating the importance of adapting ingredients in meals separately for olfactory loss and parosmia. Parosmia was associated with a higher incidence of weight loss, but we found no difference in food-related quality of life between participants with olfactory loss and parosmia. While olfactory loss and parosmia have wide-ranging consequences on patients’ cooking and food habits, adapting meals to include ‘safer food items’ and integrating multisensory stimulation may be a possible avenue for improving the enjoyment of food.

Introduction A growing body of research has demonstrated differences in perceptual, conceptual, and language abilities between wine experts and novices. However, it is unclear to what extent these differences are innate or acquired through training. The present study assessed the olfactory and gustatory performance of a group of university blind wine tasters before and after training. Previous research has shown that this training regimen significantly improves blind tasting accuracy, but it remains unknown whether perceptual learning from blind tasting training is generalisable to standard tests of olfactory/gustatory ability. Methods Two testing sessions were carried out for the training group ( N = 14) as well as for a control group ( N = 12) before and after a 5-week training period. In each session, participants underwent olfactory threshold, discrimination, and identification assessments as well as a gustatory sensitivity test. Results Olfactory discrimination significantly improved in the training group over the 5-week period, and the training group outperformed controls in olfactory identification in both sessions. Conclusions Based on our limited set of data, wine training seems to have improved olfactory discrimination, even though the method of training did not involve odorants used in the discrimination test itself. Implications These results reveal that even wine training over a short period seems to make concrete changes to olfactory performance, supporting the idea that generalised perceptual learning can take place for odour discrimination.

Chemosensory sensitivity has great variation between individuals. This variation complicates the chemosensory diagnostics, as well as the creation of a meal with universally high hedonic value. To ensure accurate characterization of chemosensory function, a common rule of thumb is to avoid food/beverages one hour before chemosensory testing. However, the scientific foundation of this time of fast remains unclear. Furthermore, the role of coffee on immediate chemosensitivity is not known and may have implications for optimization of gastronomy and hedonia. The aim of this study is to investigate the modularity effects of coffee consumption on immediate gustatory and olfactory sensitivity. We included 155 participants. By applying tests for olfactory and gustatory sensitivity before and after coffee intake, we found no changes in olfactory sensitivity, but significantly altered sensitivity for some basic tastants. We repeated our experimental paradigm using decaffeinated coffee and found similar results. Our results demonstrate that coffee (regular and decaffeinated) alters the subsequent perception of taste, specifically by increasing the sensitivity to sweet and decreasing the sensitivity to bitter. Our findings provide the first evidence of how coffee impacts short-term taste sensitivity and consequently the way we sense and perceive food following coffee intake—an important insight in the context of gastronomy, as well as in chemosensory testing procedures.

Sinonasal neuroendocrine carcinomas (SN-NECs) are rare malignancies, typically affecting older individuals. This case report presents a highly malignant large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) originating from the nasal septum in a previously healthy young adult male. The patient initially presented with symptoms mimicking acute rhinosinusitis, such as nasal obstruction, rhinorrhoea and frontal headache, which were followed by recurrent epistaxis and double vision. Imaging revealed an extensive sinonasal (SN) tumour with local invasion and significant mass effect. Histopathology confirmed a large-cell NEC with a Ki-67 proliferation index of 80%. Urgent surgical resection was performed, followed by cisplatin and etoposide chemotherapy and radiotherapy, leading to a positive response despite complications such as thrombosis and tinnitus. This case highlights the importance of recognising red-flag symptoms, such as double vision, nasal stenosis with recurrent epistaxis and cranial nerve involvement, in SN disease to ensure early diagnosis and timely intervention.

Background and Aim Approximately five percent of the general population are suffering from taste disorders. Usually, subjective loss of taste is caused by smell disorders; thus, isolated loss of the sense of taste is relatively rare. Despite the influence on quality of life, isolated taste disorders (ITD) are sparsely represented in literature and clinical research. In particular, there is need for sufficient diagnostic and treatment algorithms. Aim of study is to add further information to the sparse literature on ITD and suggest an appropriate diagnostic algorithm for ITD. Methods We present a retrospective study on patients with ITD diagnosed at the Flavour clinic, ENT department, Regional Hospital West Jutland, between 2017 and 2020. All patients underwent a thorough rhinolaryngological and otoneurologic examination, including olfactory and gustatory assessment, and a wide spectrum of biochemical, microbiological, and radiological examinations. Results In total, 522 patients referred due to smell and/or taste disorders, 423 (81%) complained of a subjective taste disorder, only 19 (3.4%) patients were diagnosed with ITD. According to etiology, the patients were categorized in following groups: medicine‐related (25%), mixed (21%), iatrogenic (21%), idiopathic (11%), radiotherapy‐related (11%), and autoimmune/inflammatory (11%). Based on etiology, individualized treatment was recommended with very discouraging results. Interpretation Diagnostics of taste disorders is a delicate and expertise demanding task. The mechanisms underlying isolated loss of taste are heterogeneous. ENT and otoneurologic examination, and specific olfactory and gustatory testing are required in all patients, whereas biochemical, microbiological, and radiological examinations are only necessary on an individual basis. A study on isolated taste disorders, which is a complaint with multiple different potential medical etiologies. The mechanisms underlying isolated loss of taste are heterogeneous. We suggest diagnostic work‐up and possible treatment.