What does the research say about odor identification score?

Odor identification score

There are 7 papers on odor identification score in aging research: 7 observational studies in people. The newest story, Nov 4, 2026: “Smell test scores linked to later mild cognitive impairment”.

Biomarker

7 papers study it8 more mention it7 findings

1 new paper in 30 daysSee all 15 papers on odor identification score

“higher odor identification scores were associated with prior and subsequent slower brain atrophy in the entorhinal cortex”

Associations of Olfaction With Longitudinal Trajectories of Brain Volumes and Neuropsychological Function in Older AdultsNeurology2022doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000201646

Humans7

Upstream

Age

downin humans1

1 study

Age is linked with lower odor identification score in humans (F(1, 230) = 13.27, p < .001, ηp2 = .055).
“Results indicated main effects of age ( F (1, 230) = 13.27, p < .001, ηp2 = .055)”
Humansn = 239
Evaluation of the NIH Toolbox Odor Identification Test across Healthy Agers, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer's Disease among Spanish‐speaking Older Adults: Results from the ARMADA Study
AAIC 2025 abstractDec 25, 2025

Associations

Incident mild cognitive impairment

downin humans1

1 study

Odor identification score predicts incident mild cognitive impairment in humans (16% lower hazard per 10-percentage-point higher odor identification score).
“each 10-percentage-point higher odor identification score was associated with a 16% lower hazard of incident MCI”
Humanscognitively normal at baseline; independent of baseline global cognition and APOE ε4-carrier statusn = 250
Smell test scores linked to later mild cognitive impairment
medRxivNov 4, 2026Preprint

More on Incident mild cognitive impairment

Female sex

upin humans1

1 study

Female sex is associated with odor identification score in healthy agers (M = 6.24 vs M = 5.32, p < .001).
“We observed sex differences only for the healthy agers ( p < .001), with female participants ( M = 6.24, SD = 1.56) having higher scores than males ( M = 5.32, SD = 1.70).”
Humansin healthy agersn = 115
Evaluation of the NIH Toolbox Odor Identification Test across Healthy Agers, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer's Disease among Spanish‐speaking Older Adults: Results from the ARMADA Study
AAIC 2025 abstractDec 25, 2025

Cognitive status

mixedin humans1

1 study

Cognitive status is associated with odor identification score in humans (F(1, 230) = 3.59, p = .029, ηp2 = .030).
“diagnosis ( F (1, 230) = 3.59, p = .029, ηp2 = .030)”
Humansn = 239
Evaluation of the NIH Toolbox Odor Identification Test across Healthy Agers, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer's Disease among Spanish‐speaking Older Adults: Results from the ARMADA Study
AAIC 2025 abstractDec 25, 2025

Cognitive decline

downin humans1

1 study

Odor identification score is associated with cognitive decline in humans (adjusted for demographic variables and cardiovascular disease) (p < 0.05).
“Higher odor identification scores were also associated with prior slower decline in memory, attention, processing speed, and manual dexterity and subsequent slower decline in attention (all p < 0.05).”
Humansadjusted for demographic variables and cardiovascular disease
Associations of Olfaction With Longitudinal Trajectories of Brain Volumes and Neuropsychological Function in Older Adults
NeurologyDec 2, 2022

Hippocampal atrophy

downin humans1

1 study

Odor identification score is associated with hippocampal atrophy in humans (adjusted for demographic variables and cardiovascular disease) (prior β ± SE = 0.0070 ± 0.0030, p = 0.0192; subsequent β ± SE = 0.0173 ± 0.0066, p = 0.0089).
“hippocampus (β ± SE = 0.0070 ± 0.0030, p = 0.0192 and β ± SE = 0.0173 ± 0.0066, p = 0.0089, respectively), and additional frontal and temporal areas (all p < 0.05)”
Humansadjusted for demographic variables and cardiovascular disease
Associations of Olfaction With Longitudinal Trajectories of Brain Volumes and Neuropsychological Function in Older Adults
NeurologyDec 2, 2022

Brain atrophy

downin humans1

1 study

Odor identification score is associated with brain atrophy in humans (adjusted for demographic variables and cardiovascular disease) (prior β ± SE = 0.0093 ± 0.0031, p = 0.0028; subsequent β ± SE = 0.0176 ± 0.0073, p = 0.0169).
“higher odor identification scores were associated with prior and subsequent slower brain atrophy in the entorhinal cortex”
Humansadjusted for demographic variables and cardiovascular disease
Associations of Olfaction With Longitudinal Trajectories of Brain Volumes and Neuropsychological Function in Older Adults
NeurologyDec 2, 2022

Latest

5 papers in 12 months

medRxivNov 4

Smell test scores linked to later mild cognitive impairment

Among cognitively normal older adults, each 10-percentage-point higher smell identification score was linked to a 16% lower hazard of later mild cognitive impairment.Among cognitively normal older adults, each 10-percentage-point higher smell identification score was linked to a 16% lower hazard of later mild cognitive impairment.

Preprint: cohort · 250 peopleMild cognitive impairment