Individual Factors in Nasal Chemesthesis

Population variability in nasal irritant (chemesthesic) sensitivity has been postulated by both clinicians and epidemiologists studying indoor and ambient air pollution. Among experimentalists, however, limited attention has been paid to variance in this trait. Candidate susceptibility markers inclu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemical senses 2002-07, Vol.27 (6), p.551-564
Main Author: SHUSTERMAN, Dennis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air Pollutants - adverse effects
Biological and medical sciences
Epidemiologic Methods
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Individuality
Irritants
Male
Nasal Mucosa - physiology
Olfaction. Taste
Perception
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychophysics - methods
Reflex - physiology
Risk Factors
Sensory Thresholds
Sex Factors
Smell - physiology
Smoking
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Summary:Population variability in nasal irritant (chemesthesic) sensitivity has been postulated by both clinicians and epidemiologists studying indoor and ambient air pollution. Among experimentalists, however, limited attention has been paid to variance in this trait. Candidate susceptibility markers include age, gender, presence or absence of nasal allergies or olfactory dysfunction, cognitive bias and self-reported pollutant reactivity. For most of these markers, conflicting data exist. This review distinguishes between functional subcomponents of nasal irritant sensitivity (sensory acuity versus physiologic reactivity), catalogs psychophysical and physiological methods for their study and examines the current evidence for variation in this trait. In general, interindividual variability has been an under-studied phenomenon.
ISSN:0379-864X
1464-3553
1464-3553
DOI:10.1093/chemse/27.6.551