Age-Related Cognitive Decline and the Olfactory Identification Deficit Are Associated to Increased Level of Depression

Overview

Journal Front Neurosci

Date 2021 Mar 11

PMID 33692667

Citations 15

Authors

Fabrizio Sanna

Francesco Loy

Raffaella Piras

Alan Moat

Carla Masala

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: Previous studies reported a correlation between olfactory function and depression. However, in literature, no data are available for the correlation between depression and all other factors such as age, sex, olfactory, gustatory, and cognitive function in healthy subjects taken together. The aim of this study was to provide a systematic account regarding the association between those variables in a non-clinical population.

Methods: Two hundred and seventy-three participants were recruited with an age range of 19-84 years. Olfactory, gustatory, cognitive function, and depression level were evaluated by means of the following tests: the Sniffin' Sticks test, Taste Strips test, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

Results: In our data, an age-related decrease in olfactory and gustatory function and a decline in cognitive functions such as attention, memory, and language were observed. Instead, no significant differences were observed for the depression level in relation to the different age ranges. However, our results indicated that the depression level could be associated to sex, odor identification impairment, and decreased attention and language.

Conclusion: Sex, the odor identification impairment, and an age-related decrease in attention and language are associated with increased level of depression in healthy subjects. Our data can be useful and informative for health care workers, that is, to have adequate preventive strategies to be used whenever these conditions are detected and recognized.

Citing Articles

Olfactory Function as a Potential Predictor of Cognitive Impairment in Men and Women.

Masala C, Loy F, Pinna I, Manis N, Ercoli T, Solla P Biology (Basel). 2024; 13(7).

PMID: 39056696 PMC: 11274230. DOI: 10.3390/biology13070503.

Correlations between Gustatory, Olfactory, Cognitive Function, and Age in Healthy Women.

Sanna F, Castelli M, Mostallino R, Loy F, Masala C Nutrients. 2024; 16(11).

PMID: 38892664 PMC: 11175123. DOI: 10.3390/nu16111731.

Retinol Levels and Severity of Patients with COVID-19.

Carvalho M, Araujo J, da Silva A, da Silva N, de Araujo N, Luchessi A Nutrients. 2023; 15(21).

PMID: 37960295 PMC: 10650184. DOI: 10.3390/nu15214642.

Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Odor Awareness Scale.

Zhang B, Li X, Tan P, Liu Y, He W, Wang L Front Psychiatry. 2023; 14:1228179.

PMID: 37575563 PMC: 10415028. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1228179.

Research trends of exercise therapy of college students in depression from 2002 to 2022: a bibliometric analysis.

Ai Z, Yuan D, Meng Y, Ai Z, Zhu S Front Neurosci. 2023; 17:1188341.

PMID: 37250392 PMC: 10213450. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1188341.

References

Flegal K, Kit B, Orpana H, Graubard B . Association of all-cause mortality with overweight and obesity using standard body mass index categories: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA. 2013; 309(1):71-82. PMC: 4855514. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2012.113905. View

Serrano-Pozo A, Frosch M, Masliah E, Hyman B . Neuropathological alterations in Alzheimer disease. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2012; 1(1):a006189. PMC: 3234452. DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a006189. View

Pribitkin E, Rosenthal M, Cowart B . Prevalence and causes of severe taste loss in a chemosensory clinic population. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2003; 112(11):971-8. DOI: 10.1177/000348940311201110. View

Slavich G, Sacher J . Stress, sex hormones, inflammation, and major depressive disorder: Extending Social Signal Transduction Theory of Depression to account for sex differences in mood disorders. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2019; 236(10):3063-3079. PMC: 6821593. DOI: 10.1007/s00213-019-05326-9. View

Hoskison E . Olfaction, pheromones and life. J Laryngol Otol. 2013; 127(12):1156-9. DOI: 10.1017/S0022215113002545. View

Hummel T, Sekinger B, Wolf S, Pauli E, Kobal G . 'Sniffin' sticks': olfactory performance assessed by the combined testing of odor identification, odor discrimination and olfactory threshold. Chem Senses. 1997; 22(1):39-52. DOI: 10.1093/chemse/22.1.39. View

Andrade L, Caraveo-Anduaga J, Berglund P, Bijl R, de Graaf R, Vollebergh W . The epidemiology of major depressive episodes: results from the International Consortium of Psychiatric Epidemiology (ICPE) Surveys. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res. 2003; 12(1):3-21. PMC: 6878531. DOI: 10.1002/mpr.138. View

Croy I, Schulz M, Blumrich A, Hummel C, Gerber J, Hummel T . Human olfactory lateralization requires trigeminal activation. Neuroimage. 2014; 98:289-95. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.05.004. View

Atanasova B, Graux J, El Hage W, Hommet C, Camus V, Belzung C . Olfaction: a potential cognitive marker of psychiatric disorders. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2008; 32(7):1315-25. DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.05.003. View

10.

Soudry Y, Lemogne C, Malinvaud D, Consoli S, Bonfils P . Olfactory system and emotion: common substrates. Eur Ann Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Dis. 2011; 128(1):18-23. DOI: 10.1016/j.anorl.2010.09.007. View

11.

Zucco G, Bollini F . Odour recognition memory and odour identification in patients with mild and severe major depressive disorders. Psychiatry Res. 2011; 190(2-3):217-20. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2011.08.025. View

12.

Beck A, Ward C, Mendelson M, Mock J, ERBAUGH J . An inventory for measuring depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1961; 4:561-71. DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.1961.01710120031004. View

13.

Galbiati A, Verga L, Giora E, Zucconi M, Ferini-Strambi L . The risk of neurodegeneration in REM sleep behavior disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Sleep Med Rev. 2018; 43:37-46. DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2018.09.008. View

14.

Masala C, Solla P, Liscia A, Defazio G, Saba L, Cannas A . Correlation among olfactory function, motors' symptoms, cognitive impairment, apathy, and fatigue in patients with Parkinson's disease. J Neurol. 2018; 265(8):1764-1771. DOI: 10.1007/s00415-018-8913-9. View

15.

Croy I, Nordin S, Hummel T . Olfactory disorders and quality of life--an updated review. Chem Senses. 2014; 39(3):185-94. DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjt072. View

16.

Doty R, Cameron E . Sex differences and reproductive hormone influences on human odor perception. Physiol Behav. 2009; 97(2):213-28. PMC: 2693767. DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2009.02.032. View

17.

Felger J, Lotrich F . Inflammatory cytokines in depression: neurobiological mechanisms and therapeutic implications. Neuroscience. 2013; 246:199-229. PMC: 3741070. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2013.04.060. View

18.

Landis B, Scheibe M, Weber C, Berger R, Bramerson A, Bende M . Chemosensory interaction: acquired olfactory impairment is associated with decreased taste function. J Neurol. 2010; 257(8):1303-8. DOI: 10.1007/s00415-010-5513-8. View

19.

Conti S, Bonazzi S, Laiacona M, Masina M, Coralli M . Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)-Italian version: regression based norms and equivalent scores. Neurol Sci. 2014; 36(2):209-14. DOI: 10.1007/s10072-014-1921-3. View

20.

Solla P, Masala C, Liscia A, Piras R, Ercoli T, Fadda L . Sex-related differences in olfactory function and evaluation of possible confounding factors among patients with Parkinson's disease. J Neurol. 2019; 267(1):57-63. DOI: 10.1007/s00415-019-09551-2. View