Olfactory dysfunction in hereditary ataxia and basal... : NeuroReport (original) (raw)

Articles

Fernandez-Ruiz, Juan1,2,CA; Díaz, Rosalinda1; Hall-Haro, Cynthia1; Vergara, Patricia1; Fiorentini, Aldo2; Nunñez, Lilia3; Drucker-Colín, René4; Ochoa, Adriana5; Yescas, Petra5; Rasmussen, Astrid5; Alonso, Maria-Elisa5

1Depto. Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autó noma de México, México D.F., AP 70–250; 2Escuela de Psicologí a, Universidad Anáhuac; 3Depto. Neurología, CMN 20 de Noviembre, ISSSTE; 4Depto. Neurociencias, Instituto de Fisiología Celular, UNAM; 5Depto. Neurogenética y Biología Molecular, Insitituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suárez, México

CA,1Corresponding Author and Address: [email protected]

Received 13 March 2003; accepted 3 April 2003

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Abstract

In the present study the olfactory system of hereditary ataxia patients was tested using the smell identification test. Two previous findings suggested a possible olfactory impairment in these patients. First, an olfactory dysfunction has been found in different neurodegenerative diseases, and second, human functional imaging has shown cerebellar activation during olfaction. As an initial approach to determine if cerebellar ataxia impairs the olfactory process, cerebellar ataxia patients, along with basal ganglia patients, were tested. The results show an olfactory deficit in both basal ganglia and hereditary ataxia patients. Further exploration of the olfactory capacities in hereditary ataxia is necessary to elucidate the specific nature of the deficits. NeuroReport 14:1339–1341 © 2003 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

© 2003 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.