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Neuropsychological Characteristics Associated with Olfactory Hallucinations in Schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2012

Deborah Arguedas ,
Robyn Langdon  and
Richard Stevenson
Deborah Arguedas
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders, Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Robyn Langdon*
Affiliation:
ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders, Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Richard Stevenson
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Robyn Langdon, ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders, Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2019, Australia. E-mail: robyn.langdon@mq.edu.au
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Abstract

Olfactory hallucinations (OHs) are present in a significant minority of people with schizophrenia, yet these symptoms are under-researched and poorly understood. This study aimed to identify the neuropsychological impairments that associate with OHs in schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were classified into an OH group and a group with auditory-verbal hallucinations (AVHs) and no lifetime history of OHs. Patients were age- and gender-matched to a healthy control group. All participants were assessed using: a test of odor identification; decision-making and socio-emotional tests of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and amygdala function; and a battery of standardized executive tests. Patients, as a whole, performed more poorly than controls on the tests of odor identification, emotion processing and executive function, consistent with previous research. Only two tests of OFC functioning: the Object Alternation Task, taken from Oscar-Berman and Zola-Morgan's (1980a, 1980b) Comparative Neuropsychological Tasks, and a test of “faux pas” understanding discriminated between the OH and AVH patients. Findings provide the first preliminary support for OH-specific neuropsychological impairments associated with OFC dysfunction in schizophrenia. (JINS, 2012, 18, 1–10)

Keywords

HallucinationsSchizophrenia spectrumOlfactory processingPsychosisOrbitofrontal functionAmygdala function
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 18 , Issue 5 , September 2012 , pp. 799 - 808
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2012

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