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Odor Identification

Influences of Age, Gender, Cognition, and Personality

^a Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Sweden
^b Clinical Neuroscience (NEUROTEC) and
^c Medical Epidemiology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
^d Division of Social Sciences, Indiana University, New Albany
^e Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles

Maria Larsson, Stockholm Gerontology Research Center, Box 6401, S-113 Stockholm, Sweden E-mail: maria.larsson{at}neurotec.ki.se.

Toni C. Antonucci, PhD

The aim of this study was to examine the influences of age, gender, cognitive abilities, and personality styles on odor identification. Participants aged 45–87 years from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging were assessed with a Swedish version of the National Geographic Smell Survey. Both detection and identification of olfactory information were impaired with age. Gender had no effect on detection or identification. Hierarchical regressions revealed that proficiency in semantic memory, intensity perception, and personality style (i.e., neuroticism, impulsivity, and lack of assertiveness) were potent predictors for successful odor identification, even when individual variations in chronological age, sex, education, and global cognitive functioning were taken into account.

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				D. Finkel, N. L. Pedersen, and M. Larsson Olfactory Functioning and Cognitive Abilities: A Twin Study J. Gerontol. B. Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci., July 1, 2001; 56(4): P226 - 233. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]