Odor Perception in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and its Relationship to Food Neophobia.

Anne-Claude Luisier,Agnes Giboreau,Camille Ferdenzi,Annick Clerc Bérod,Moustafa Bensafi,Catherine Rouby,Genevieve Petitpierre

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01830

Abstract

Atypical sensory functioning in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been well documented in the last decade for the visual, tactile and auditory systems, but olfaction in ASD is still understudied. The aim of the present study was to examine whether children with ASD and neuro-typically (NT) developed children differed in odor perception, at the cognitive (familiarity and identification ability), sensorimotor (olfactory exploration) and affective levels (hedonic evaluation). Because an important function of the sense of smell is its involvement in eating, from food selection to appreciation and recognition, a potential link between odor perception and food neophobia was also investigated. To these ends, 10 children between 6 and 13 years old diagnosed with ASD and 10 NT control children were tested. To compare performance, 16 stimuli were used and food neophobia was assessed by the parents on a short food neophobia scale. Results revealed that (i) significant hedonic discrimination between attractive and aversive odors was observed in NT (p = 0.005; d = 2.378) and ASD children (p = 0.042; d = 0.941), and (ii) hedonic discrimination level was negatively correlated with food neophobia scores in ASD (p = 0.007) but not NT children. In conclusion, this study offers new insights into odor perception in ASD children, highlighting a relationship between odor hedonic reactivity and eating behavior. This opens up new perspectives on both (i) the role of olfaction in the construction of eating behavior in ASD children, and (ii) the measurement and meaning of food neophobia in this population.

Highlights

According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by both (i) deficits in social communication and social interaction and (ii) stereotyped, restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interest or activity
The aim of the present study was threefold: to examine whether ASD and NT children differed in odor perception, at both cognitive level and sensorimotor and hedonic levels, and to assess a potential link between atypical odor perception and behavioral attitude toward food
The study provides very minor support for impaired odor identification in ASD children compared to controls: the only inter-group difference was that identification of the pleasant odor tended to be better than for the unpleasant odor in NT but not ASD children

Summary

Introduction

According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by both (i) deficits in social communication and social interaction and (ii) stereotyped, restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interest or activity (including atypical speech and movement, resistance to change, and atypical sensory behavior). These symptoms are present in early childhood and combine to limit and impair everyday functioning. In the second study, Woo and Leon (2013) exposed 3–12 year-old ASD children to either daily olfactory/tactile stimulation along with sensory and cognitive exercises (enrichment group), or to only standard care (control group); after 6 months of enrichment, the severity of autistic traits (assessed on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Schopler et al, 1980) was significantly lower in the enrichment group than in controls

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