Studies of Human Olfaction from the University of Pennsylvania Smell and Taste Center

This paper, presented in part as an invited lecture on the occasionof Professor E.P. Köster's retirement from Utrecht University,summarizes a large body of human studies performed at the Universityof Pennsylvania Smell and Taste Center during the last 17 years.Details of the development of standardized olfactory tests areprovided, including their validation and application in a widevariety of clinical and laboratory settings. Included are studiesrelated to transduction mechanisms in olfactory coding and factorsthat adversely influence olfactory function (e.g. age, gender,smoking, exposure to environmental chemicals, numerous diseases).A brief discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the olfactoryvector hypothesis for neurodegenerative diseases is also presented.Chem. Senses 22: 565–586, 1997.