Null cross-modal effects of olfactory training on visual, auditory or olfactory working memory in 6- to 9-year-old children.
Neuropsychol Rehabil
; : 1-22, 2024 May 19.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38762780
ABSTRACT
Systematic exposure to odours (olfactory training, OT) is a method of smell loss treatment. Due to olfactory system projections to prefrontal brain areas, OT has been hypothesized to enhance cognitive functions, but its effects have been studied predominantly in adults. This study tested OT effects on working memory (WM), i.e., the ability to store and manipulate information for a short time, in healthy children aged 6-9 years. We expected OT to improve olfactory WM and establish cross-modal transfer to visual and auditory WM. Participants performed 12 weeks of bi-daily OT with either 4 odours (lemon, eucalyptus, rose, cloves; OT group) or odourless propylene glycol (placebo group). Pre- and post-training, participants' WM was measured utilizing odours (olfactory WM) or pictures (visual WM) and a word-span task (auditory WM). 84 children (40 girls) completed the study. The analyses revealed no changes in the WM performance following OT. The olfactory WM task was the most difficult for children, highlighting the need to include olfactory-related tasks in educational programmes to improve children's odour knowledge and memory, just as they learn about sounds and pictures. Further neuroimaging research is needed to fully understand the impact of OT on cognitive functions in children.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Neuropsychol Rehabil
/
Neuropsychol. rehabil
/
Neuropsychological rehabilitation
Journal subject:
NEUROLOGIA
/
PSICOLOGIA
/
REABILITACAO
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Country of publication: