Modern psychophysical tests to assess olfactory function

The sense of smell significantly contributes toquality of life. In recent years much progress has beenmade in understanding the biochemistry, physiology andpathology of the human olfactory system. Olfactory disordersmay arise not only from upper airway phlogosis butalso from neurodegenerative disease. Hyposmia may precedemotor signs in Parkinson's disease and cognitivedeficit in Alzheimer's disease. These findings suggest thecomplementary role of olfactory tests in the diagnosis andmanagement of neurodegenerative diseases. In this reportwe present a review of modern olfactory tests and theirclinical applications. Although rarely employed in routineclinical practice, the olfactory test evaluates the ability ofodour identification and is a useful diagnostic tool forolfaction evaluation. Olfactory screening tests are alsoavailable. In this work we strongly recommend the importanceof an ENT evaluation before the test administrationand dissuade from a self-administration of an olfactory test. © Springer-Verlag Italia 2005.