ERIC Number: EJ1154397
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Oct
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0162-3257
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Available Date: N/A
Olfactory Processing in Male Children with Autism: Atypical Odor Threshold and Identification
Muratori, Filippo; Tonacci, Alessandro; Billeci, Lucia; Catalucci, Tiziana; Igliozzi, Roberta; Calderoni, Sara; Narzisi, Antonio
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, v47 n10 p3243-3251 Oct 2017
Sensory issues are of great interest in ASD diagnosis. However, their investigation is mainly based on external observation (parent reports), with methodological limitations. Unobtrusive olfactory assessment allows studying autism neurosensoriality. Here, 20 male children with high-functioning ASD and 20 matched controls were administered a complete olfactory test battery, assessing olfactory threshold, identification and discrimination. ASD children show lower sensitivity (p = 0.041), lower identification (p = 0.014), and intact odor discrimination (p = 0.199) than controls. Comparing olfactory and clinical scores, a significant correlation was found in ASD between olfactory threshold and the CBCL social problems (p = 0.011) and aggressive behavior (p = 0.012) sub-scales. The pattern featuring peripheral hyposensitivity, high-order difficulties in odor identification and regular subcortical odor discrimination is discussed in light of hypo-priors hypothesis for autism.
Descriptors: Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Olfactory Perception, Males, Sensory Experience, Control Groups, Experimental Groups, Clinical Diagnosis, Correlation, Aggression, Social Problems
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
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Language: English
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