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Teodor T. Postolache, MD; Thomas A. Wehr, MD; Richard L. Doty, PhD; Leo Sher, MD; Erick H. Turner, MD; John J. Bartko, PhD; Norman E. Rosenthal, MD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2002;59:1119-1122.

Background  Behavioral changes in patients with seasonal affective disorder resemble seasonal changes in photoperiodic animals. Because the olfactory system has a modulatory role in seasonal photoperiodic responses in certain species, we hypothesized that olfactory function may differ between patients with seasonal affective disorder and healthy control subjects.

Methods  Fourteen patients who had winter seasonal affective disorder and 16 healthy volunteers were studied once in winter and once in the subsequent summer. We administered a phenyl ethyl alcohol detection threshold test to each side of the nose in a counterbalanced order, with the nostril contralateral to the tested site occluded. Patient and control data were compared using a 4-way repeated measure analysis of covariance (with group and gender as between-subjects factors, season and side-of-the-nose as within-subjects factors, and age as a covariate).

Results  The patients exhibited lower thresholds than did the controls (F_1,25 = 9.2; P = .006). There was no main effect of season.

Conclusion  In humans, marked seasonal behavioral rhythms with recurrent winter depression may be associated with a more acute sense of smell.

From the Section on Biological Rhythms, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md (Drs Postolache, Wehr, Sher, Turner, and Rosenthal); Psychopharmacology Consultation Service, St Elizabeths Hospital (Dr Postolache) and Department of Psychiatry, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC (Drs Postolache and Rosenthal); and Smell and Taste Center, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia (Dr Doty). Dr Bartko is a private biostatistical consultant in Bethesda, Md.

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