Budapest 9INFLUENCES OF AGING ON HUMAN OLFACTORY FUNCTION

The ability to smell, like other primary sensory abilities, diminishes as we grow older. Olfactory decrements are especially prominent in the elderly. Indeed, over three-fourths of individuals 80 years of age and older are anosmic or nearly anosmic, and over one half of those between the ages of 65 and 80 years are similarly deficient (Doty et al. 1984b)