Emotional reactivity to odors: olfactory sensitivity and the span of emotional evaluation separate the genders.

Numerous studies report gender differences in emotional reactivity in health and disease and the perception of odors is closely linked to the limbic system. In order to investigate gender differences in the emotional perception of odors we extended the Sniffin' Stick Test with analogue rating scales for hedonic (pleasantness/unpleasantness) and intensity estimates. We matched 172 healthy subjects (86 females and 86 males) on age in order to balance the study population for three age strata (A: 19-39 years, B: 40-59, C: 60 years and above).

Good news for elderly persons: olfactory pleasure increases at later stages of the life span.

Background: Numerous studies have been conducted collecting normative values dependent on age for the three major components of the Sniffin' Stick Test (threshold of n-butanol, and identification and discrimination of odors). Less is known about the influence of age on the hedonic and intensity evaluation of odors. Thus, the objective of this study was to analyze the influence of age on the hedonic and intensity estimates in a large human population.