Abstracts - Association for Chemoreception Sciences

P O S T E R S
and its associations with basic demographic characteristics of this
diverse population. Acknowledgements: The National Social Life,
Health, and Aging Project Wave II (R37 AG030481), Gianinno
Graduate Research Fund
#P335 POSTER SESSION VII:
OLFACTORY PSYCHOPHYSICS &
CLINICAL STUDIES; CENTRAL OLFACTION
Olfaction and Executive Function in the Beaver Dam
Offspring Study
Carla R. Schubert 1 , Karen J. Cruickshanks 1 , Guan-Hua Huang 2 ,
Barbara EK Klein 1 , Ronald Klein 1 , James S. Pankow 3 , David M.
Nondahl 1
1
University of Wisconsin Madison, WI, USA, 2 National Chiao
Tung University Hsinchu, Taiwan, 3 University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Olfactory impairment is associated with the 5-year incidence of
cognitive impairment in older adults but it is unknown if there is
an association present in younger adults in a general population.
The objective of the current study is to determine the association
between olfaction and cognitive function in the Beaver Dam
Offspring Study, a study of familial and birth cohort effects on
aging senses. The San Diego Odor Identification Test was used to
measure olfaction, and olfactory impairment was defined as
correctly identifying fewer than 6 out of 8 odorants. The Trail
Making Test (TMT) was used to assess cognitive (executive)
function. The TMT score is the time in seconds(s) it takes to
complete the tasks, drawing a line sequentially connecting
randomly placed numbers (TMTA) and alternating numbers and
letters (TMTB) correctly, with a longer time considered a poorer
performance. There were 2837 participants, aged 21-84 years
(mean age 49 years) with olfaction and TMT data; 3.8% had
olfactory impairment. In preliminary analyses, adjusting for age
and sex, TMTA and TMTB time were significantly longer among
those with olfactory impairment versus those without impairment
(TMTA = 35.9 s vs. 27.6 s; TMTB=83.7 s vs. 67.0 s; respectively,
p