The aim of our study was to examine odor detection thresholds and odor identification in autistic subjects. Thirty-five patients with Asperger's syndrome and high functioning autism (mean age 10.8 ± 3.6 years; 31 boys) were compared with 35 healthy control subjects (mean age 10.4 ± 2.4 years; 28 boys). There were no significant differences between groups with regard to mean age (p = 0.598) and gender proportion (p = 0.324). Olfactory testing used the Sniffin' Sticks test (threshold and identification parts only). Participants with Asperger's syndrome and high functioning autism, in comparison with healthy controls, were significantly impaired relative to odor detection thresholds (6.3 ± 3.1 vs. 7.9 ± 2.0; p = 0.025). Autistic participants were significantly better in correctly identifying the odor of an orange (94 vs. 63%; p < 0.05) and significantly worse at correctly identifying the odor of cloves (40 vs. 74%; p < 0.05). With regard to identification of fourteen other substances, there were no significant differences. There was no significant difference between autistic and control subjects on the total score of olfactory identification (p = 0.799). Odor identification ability (as expressed by this total score) correlated significantly with age in the control group (p = 0.049), but not in the autism group (p = 0.103). We found impaired odor detection and almost normal odor identification in children with autism. Implications for further research are discussed.

• MeSH
• Aspergerův syndrom * komplikace   patofyziologie   MeSH
• autistická porucha * komplikace   patofyziologie   MeSH
• čich * MeSH
• čichová percepce * MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• odoranty MeSH
• poruchy čichu * etiologie   patofyziologie   MeSH
• psychiatrické posuzovací škály MeSH
• senzorické prahy MeSH
• stupeň závažnosti nemoci MeSH
• věkové faktory MeSH
• výběr pacientů MeSH
• výzkumný projekt MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

The aim of our study was to explore possible differences in estimation of odor pleasantness in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) compared to controls. Thirty-five patients with Asperger's syndrome and high functioning autism (mean age 10.8 ± 3.6 years; 31 boys) were compared with 35 healthy control subjects (mean age 10.4 ± 2.4 years; 28 boys). Odor pleasantness was assessed on a 5-point scale using the Sniffin' Sticks test (Identification part of the test). Patients with ASD, compared to healthy controls, perceived the smell of cinnamon and pineapple as significantly less pleasant (p < 0.05); at the trend level, the same was true of cloves (p < 0.1). The possibility of olfactory dysfunctions as an autism biomarker is discussed.

• MeSH
• čich fyziologie   MeSH
• čichová percepce fyziologie   MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• odoranty MeSH
• pervazivní vývojové poruchy u dětí psychologie   MeSH
• radost * MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

There is evidence that both the basal ganglia and the cerebellum play a role in the neural representation of time in a variety of behaviours, but whether one of them is more important is not yet clear. To address this question in the context of predictive motor timing, we tested patients with various movement disorders implicating these two structures in a motor-timing task. Specifically, we investigated four different groups: (1) patients with early Parkinson's disease (PD); (2) patients with sporadic spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA); (3) patients with familial essential tremor (ET); and (4) matched healthy controls. We used a predictive motor-timing task that involved mediated interception of a moving target, and we assessed the effect of movement type (acceleration, deceleration and constant), speed (slow, medium and fast) and angle (0 degrees , 15 degrees and 30 degrees) on performance (hit, early error and late error). The main results showed that PD group and arm ET subgroup did not significantly differ from the control group. SCA and head ET subjects (severe and mild cerebellar damage, respectively) were significantly worse at interception than the other two groups. Our findings support the idea that the basal ganglia play a less significant role in predictive motor timing than the cerebellum. The fact that SCA and ET subjects seemed to have a fundamental problem with predictive motor timing suggests that the cerebellum plays an essential role in integrating incoming visual information with the motor output in a timely manner, and that ET is a heterogeneous entity that deserves increased attention from clinicians.

• MeSH
• bazální ganglia patofyziologie   MeSH
• časové faktory MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• esenciální tremor diagnóza   patofyziologie   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mozeček patofyziologie   MeSH
• nemoci mozečku diagnóza   patofyziologie   MeSH
• Parkinsonova nemoc diagnóza   patofyziologie   MeSH
• pohyb fyziologie   MeSH
• psychomotorický výkon fyziologie   MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• spinocerebelární ataxie diagnóza   patofyziologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH