Olfactory training and metacognitive aspects of olfaction in children aged 6-9 years: a preliminary study

Abstract

People differ in terms of olfactory abilities and awareness of ambient odors. Olfactory training (OT), a method primarily devoted to the rehabilitation of the sense of smell, has been found to have a positive effect on various olfactory and cognitive abilities. Here, addressing an important gap in the literature, we tested experimentally whether odor awareness and significance in young children can be enhanced through standardized OT. Additionally, we explored whether OT can improve odor identification skills and verbal fluency. A sample of 101 children (52 girls) aged between 6 and 9 years (M = 7.62 ± 0.61) took part in a 12-week OT, preceded and followed by psychophysical and questionnaire testing. Of these, 57 children were assigned to the experimental group who bi-daily smelled four odors (rose, eucalyptus, lemon and cloves), and 44 children to the placebo group who received odorless samples. Odor significance and awareness score slightly increased, and this improvement was more pronounced in the experimental group. The effect was present in the group that presented lower odor awareness at baseline, suggesting that OT may be particularly effective in children who have lesser experience with odors. OT affected neither the odor identification nor the verbal fluency. We conclude that in children, especially those who have less experience with odors, OT procedure might have certain effects on metacognitive aspects of olfaction. More studies are needed to assess the exact effects of OT on metacognitive olfactory development.

Fig. 1

Individual scores at both testing sessions for experimental and placebo groups. Note: T1 – first testing session; T2 – second testing session; Pla-Placebo group; Exp-Experimental group