Chen YT, et al., J Gerontol Geriatr Med 2023, 9: 164 DOI: 10.24966/GGM-8662/100164
HSOA Journal of
Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine Research Article
Olfactory Stimulation Improves Geriatric Cognitive Function through Evaluation of Auditory Perception
an effective network of auditory and cognitive processing along with improving swallowing function. It is imperative to include systematic sensation protocol with comprehensive tests for auditory and cognitive processing while evaluating changes on age-related cognitive function.
Yea-Tzy Chen1,2, Yea-Jyh Chen3*, Yen-Chun Lai4 and Hung-Ming Chang5
Introduction
Department of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, College of Health Technology, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan
1
2
Department of Special Education, University of Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
School of Nursing, College of Health & Human Services, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA
3
Department of Rehabilitation, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan
4
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
5
Abstract This secondary data analysis aimed to understand auditory perception and determine the efficacy of using Olfactory Stimulation (OS) to improve perceptual cognition in older people. We abstracted the data from available healthy older Taiwanese adults (24 OS and 20 control). The OS group received neutral nasal inhalation before each meal for 12 days. All participants completed the Assessment of Auditory Perception for Conceptual Recognition short form (AAPCR-S) twice, at pre-test and post-test, reflecting their cognitive function. The OS participants had enhanced auditory conceptual ability compared to pre-test (p< 0.001), but the control did not. The interaction effect on auditory perception significantly differed by time with a large effect size (p= 0.004, ηp2 = 0.18). No difference was found between groups. The results illustrated that OS using odor and flavor inhalation was effective to improve auditory conceptual ability for healthy older adults over time. We suggest that, with a normal olfactory sensation, older adults will integrate physical mechanisms into *Corresponding author: Yea-Jyh Chen, School of Nursing, College of Health & Human Services, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 601 S College Road, Wilmington, NC 28403, USA, Tel: +1 9109620584; Fax: +1 9109624921; E-mail: chenyj@uncw.edu Citation: Chen YT, Chen YJ, Lai YC, Chang HM (2023) Olfactory Stimulation Improves Geriatric Cognitive Function through Evaluation of Auditory Perception. J Gerontol Geriatr Med 9: 164. Received: February 06, 2023; Accepted: February 14, 2023; Published: February 21, 2023 Copyright: © 2023 Chen YT, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Keywords: Cognitive function; Geriatric auditory perception; Olfactory stimulation; Taiwanese
Olfactory Stimulation (OS) has been suggested to have promising effects in improving cognitive function in people with cognitive decline or dysfunction [1,2] and swallowing in healthy older adults [3]. Geriatric olfactory sense fades gradually and imperceptibly [4,5] as a natural course cycle that may frequently co-occur with dementia and age-related hearing loss. Our prior laboratory evidence demonstrated that volatile molecules via olfaction were able to activate the neuronal reactivities in the brainstem in relation to swallowing [6], and it could potentially also be co-activated in cognitive areas around the orbitofrontal and limbic lobes. The auditory conceptual assessment measures the effects on the central processing system to determine whether maximum outcomes enhance the associated domains, i.e., cognition. Therefore, changes in auditory perception, in particular, were examined in our study to measure cognitive function after olfactory stimulation. The Assessment of Auditory Perception for Conceptual Recognition (AAPCR) was a cognitive test used to determine conceptual knowledge of semantic memory in people with neurophysiological damage [7]. This computer-based instrument is culturally sensitive and requires participants to identify non-speech environmental sounds in given situations. It was designed as a standardized means to benefit individuals with some degrees of auditory processing difficulty in communication, which is commonly seen in the older population [8,9]. The psychometrics of the AAPCR were established, including high criterion-related validity with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Taiwanese version [8-10]. A higher AAPCR score indicates better auditory conceptual ability. This report presents auditory perception ability in healthy older adults and tests the hypothesis using OS yields improved perceptual cognition.
Materials and Methods This secondary data analysis was part of the geriatric swallowing projects [3]. Healthy older Taiwanese adults (24 in the experimental [OS] group and 20 in the control group) were included without baseline differences in demographic characteristics (i.e., age, gender, education). The OS group received neutral nasal inhalation before each meal for 12 days. All participants were evaluated by their conceptual ability in cognition using the AAPCR-S at baseline (pretest) and at the end of the study (post-test). Considering the limited attention on aging, the AAPCR-S, which contains a total of 36 items including the simple (Test 1; 12 items) and complex (Test 2; 24 items) environmental sound identification tests, was adequately