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Obesity and obesity‐related illness are an increasingly prevalent problem globally, especially in Western society. One of the largest contributing factors to the obesity pandemic is the modern food environment and food culture. It is necessary to identify and develop strategies to increase the sensory appeal of healthy food and beverage options in order to provide healthy options to consumers without sacrificing the fundamental sensory enjoyment of eating. Since flavor is the largest driver of food intake and choice, it follows that flavor ought to be part of the solution. This paper reviews the potential of chili pepper or capsaicin (the pungent component of chili pepper) as a healthy eating strategy, by increasing energy expenditure, decreasing intake, decreasing eating rate, and enhancing flavor and satisfaction. Furthermore, we suggest a holistic chemesthetic approach to weight management, by using the sensory impact of trigeminal stimulation (spiciness or heat) in foods, rather than medicinally, in order to cross‐modally enhance tastes and odors, increase perceived complexity and overall flavor, increase sensory satisfaction, and decrease salt and caloric intake. Future research directions are discussed. Practical Application: It is necessary to provide strategies, such as trigeminal stimulation, global culinary practices, and flavor complexity, to consumers to maintain sensory satisfaction derived from healthier foods and beverages. Healthy does not have to equate to flavorless or unappealing, although it is commonly believed that unhealthy = tasty in the United States. Food can be both healthy and flavorful if we harness our collective sensory and culinary knowledge to generate a satisfying sensory experience. Incorporation of trigeminal stimulation, the third dimension of flavor in addition to taste and aroma, such as capsaicin or hot pepper, is an excellent example of drawing from global cuisines, increasing flavor complexity, and increasing overall flavor impression, in order to boost the sensory appeal, nutrition content, and nutrient absorption of healthy foods and to promote healthier eating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives/Hypothesis Nasal obstruction is the principal symptom that drives patients with rhinosinus disease to seek medical treatment. However, patient perception of obstruction often bears little relationship to actual measured physical obstruction of airflow. This lack of an objective clinical tool hinders effective diagnosis and treatment. Previous work has suggested that the perception of nasal patency may involve nasal trigeminal activation by cool inspiratory airflow; we attempt to derive clinically relevant variables following this phenomenon. Study Design Prospective healthy cohort. Methods Twenty-two healthy subjects rated unilateral nasal patency in controlled room air using a visual analog scale, followed by rhinomanometry, acoustic rhinometry, and butanol lateralization thresholds (BLTs). Each subject then immediately underwent a computed tomography scan, enabling the construction of a real-time computational fluid dynamics (CFD) nasal airway model, which was used to simulate nasal mucosa heat loss during steady resting breathing. Results Among all measured and computed variables, only CFD-simulated peak heat loss posterior to the nasal vestibule significantly correlated with patency ratings ( r = −0.46, P < .01). Linear discriminant analysis predicted patency categories with 89% success rate, with BLT and rhinomanometric nasal resistance being two additional significant variables. As validation, CFD simulated nasal resistance significantly correlated with rhinomanometrically measured resistance ( r = 0.41, P < .01). Conclusions These results reveal that our noses are sensing patency via a mechanism involving localized peak nasal mucosal cooling. The analysis provides a strong rationale for combining the individualized CFD with other objective and neurologic measures to create a novel clinical tool to diagnose nasal obstruction and to predict and evaluate treatment outcomes. Level of Evidence 4 Laryngoscope, 124:589-595, 2014 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives/Hypothesis: This study evaluated two versions of a test for olfactory function to determine suitability for use in a pediatric population. Study Design: Cross-sectional cohort study. Methods: In phase 1, 369 children (ages 3-17 years) and 277 adults (parents) were tested. Children began with identification and familiarity judgments to pictures representing target odors and distractors. Odors were administered via a six-item scratch and sniff test. Each answer sheet contained the correct odor source and three distractors. In phase 2, 50 children (ages 3-4 years) and 43 adults were given a revised version with eight odors judged more representative of the source and familiar to children. Results: Both completion time and identification accuracy in phase 1 improved with age. Accuracy of children 5 years old and above equaled adults for two of the three best odors. In phase 2, adults' accuracy significantly improved relative to phase 1 (92% vs. 68%), and exceeded that of 4 year olds for four of eight odors and 3 year olds for seven of eight odors. Conclusions: Children as young as 3 years of age can perform olfactory testing, but take longer than do older children and adults (7.44 vs. 5.66 vs. 3.71 minutes). Identification accuracy also increases as a function of age. The current six-item National Institutes of Health Toolbox Odor Identification Test is a brief, easily conducted test for evaluating olfactory ability. Collection of normative data for children of all ages and adults is needed to determine the clinical utility of the test and its interpretations for pathological conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although smell loss has several potential etiologies (e.g., head trauma, allergic rhinitis, and enlarged adenoids) that are common among children, studies evaluating the prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in the pediatric population are rare. Several challenges confront the clinician or researcher hoping to evaluate odor identification ability in young children. Children are likely to be unfamiliar with many of the odor stimuli used in adult tests and have limited ability to read and identify labels to select from alternative choices, which is the typical adult response option. Consequently, specialized forms of olfactory tests must be developed for this population. Based on the format of the San Diego Odor Identification Test 1 and the delivery system of the Brief Smell Identification Test, 2 we are developing a short form odor identification test utilizing standardized odor stimuli in which participants match 6 odorants to pictures of the odor source. The pilot version of this test is being administered to children between the ages of 3–17 as part of the pre-surgical intake evaluation at the A.I. duPont Hospital for Children and as part of basic research studies at the Monell Center. The hospital study population is broad and includes children undergoing ear, nose, and throat surgery as well as controls subjects (children undergoing general surgery), with approximately 50 children per week eligible for evaluation. To improve correct interpretation of the results, stimulus familiarity is evaluated by having the child's parent/guardian also complete the test and answer a short questionnaire about the child's experience with the various odor stimuli. The challenges confronted in studying this clinical population as well as extrapolation to larger populations will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mental representation elicited by smelling an odor often consists of multiple sensory and affective dimensions; however, the richness of this elaboration is difficult to capture using methods to rate the intensity of these factors in isolation. Attempts to use language descriptors for olfactory experience have also been shown to be rather limited; among nonspecialists, there is no universally accepted system for describing odors, leading to greater reliance on specific item associations. In this study, we explored the utility of semantic differential (SD) scaling for illustrating the various dimensions of olfactory experience. Three hundred volunteers rated 30 distinct odorants using 50 semantic differential scale adjectives. Three factors emerged from the analysis (based on 17 adjective pairs) accounting for 53% of the variance, and corresponding to the evaluation, potency and activity dimensions identified for other stimulus types. SD scaling appears to be a viable method for identifying the multiple dimensions of mental representation evoked when smelling an odorant, and may prove a useful tool for both consumer and basic research alike. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Although numerous methods of classifying odors have been developed, little agreement has been achieved on the dimensions that are useful to both basic and consumer research. The identification of a set of semantic differential adjectives that are relevant to olfactory experience can become a useful tool for classifying the qualitative and affective bases on which odorants differ. In particular, the degree to which odorants evoke multidimensional representations from other sensory modalities (visual, auditory, somatosensory or gustatory) can be usefully applied in the arena of product development both within and across cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A response from the authors of the article "Regional Peak Mucosal Cooling Predicts the Perception of Nasal Patency" in a 2013 issue is presented.

Background: Impairment of olfactory function in humans has been associated with occupational exposure to volatile chemicals. To investigate whether exposure to styrene was associated with olfactory impairment, olfactory function was examined in workers with a minimum of 4 years exposure to styrene in the reinforced-plastics industry (current mean exposure: 26 ppm, range: 10-60 ppm; historic mean dose: 156 ppm-years, range: 13.8-328 ppm-years) and in a group of age- and gender-matched, unexposed controls., Methods: Olfactory function was assessed using a standardized battery that included tests of threshold sensitivity for phenylethyl alcohol (PEA), odor identification ability, and retronasal odor perception. Odor detection thresholds for styrene were also obtained as a measure of specific adaptation to the work environment., Results: No differences were observed between exposed workers and controls on tests of olfactory function. Elevation of styrene odor detection thresholds among exposed workers indicated exposure-induced adaptation., Conclusions: The present study found no evidence among a cross-section of reinforced-plastics industry workers that current or historical exposure to styrene was associated with impairment of olfactory function. Taken together with anatomical differences between rodent and human airways and the lack of evidence for styrene metabolism in human nasal tissue, the results strongly suggest that at these concentrations, styrene is not an olfactory toxicant in humans., (Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Background: This study was undertaken in conjunction with an evaluation of the olfactory function of 52 persons exposed to styrene vapors to provide quantitative styrene exposure histories of each subject for use in the interpretation of the results of olfactory function testing., Methods: Current and historic exposures were investigated. Historic exposures were reconstructed from employment records and measurements of styrene exposure made in the subject facilities over the last 15 years. Current exposures were estimated for every exposed subject though personal air sampling and through pre- and post-shift measurements of urinary metabolites of styrene., Results: The study population had been employed in the reinforced-plastics industry for an average of 12.2 +/- 7.4 years. Their mean 8-hr time weighted average (TWA) respirator-corrected annual average styrene exposure was 12.6 +/- 10.4 ppm; mean cumulative exposure was 156 +/- 80 ppm-years. The current respirator-corrected 8-hr TWA average exposure was 15.1 +/- 12.0 ppm. The mean post-shift urinary mandelic and phenylglyoxylic acid (PGA) concentrations were 580 +/- 1,300 and 170 +/- 360 mg/g creatinine, respectively and were highly correlated with air concentrations of styrene., Conclusions: This quantitative exposure evaluation has provided a well-characterized population, with documented exposure histories stable over time and in the range suitable for the purposes of the associated study of olfactory function., (Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)