anosmic

comparative more anosmic · superlative most anosmic

1. medicineHaving anosmia; lacking a sense of smell.

   He had an anosmic patient who was very fond of the bouquet of moselle. […] One gentleman fell from his horse, fractured the ethmoid bone, and became anosmic.

   1870 February 12, William Ogle, “Anosmia; Cases Illustrating the Physiology and Pathology of the Sense of Smell”, in James G. Wakley, editor, The Lancet: A Journal of British and Foreign Medicine, Physiology, Surgery, Chemistry, Criticism, Literature and News, volume I, number 2424, London: Published by John James Croft, at the office of "The Lancet," 423, Strand, →OCLC, page 231, column 1

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   The possible influence of various sensory factors in migration was tested by Dodson and Leggett (1974) who compared the behaviour of ultrasonically tagged control shad with ones which had been blinded, or had the olfactory system occluded (anosmic fish), or had been subjected to both these operations. […] Both blind and blind/anosmic fish orientated into the tidal current and altered their swimming speed in relation to the speed of the tide as did intact fish.

   1982, J. H. S. Blaxter, J. R. Hunter, “The Biology of Clupeoid Fishes”, in J. H. S. Blaxter, Frederick S[tratten] Russell, Maurice Yonge, editors, Advances in Marine Biology, volume 20, London; New York, N.Y.: Academic Press, →ISBN, pages 124–125

   As a first step in determining the degree of involvement of other sensory systems in the smell deficits of anosmic patients, a retrospective study was undertaken to determine if these patients could separate trigeminal and nontrigeminal odorants. […] The results of this analysis demonstrated […] that anosmic patients could separate ammonia and vinegar from the other eight odorants of the OCM [Odorant Confusion Matrix], even though these odorants are usually not correctly identified.

   1994, David E. Hornung, Daniel Kurtz, Steven L. Youngentob, “Anosmic Patients Can Trigeminal and Nontrigeminal Stimulants”, in K[enzo] Kurihara, N[oriyo] Suzuki, H[isashi] Ogawa, editors, Olfaction and Taste XI: Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Olfaction and Taste and of the 27th Japanese Symposium on Taste and Smell: Joint Meeting Held at Kosei-nenkin Kaikan, Sapporo, Japan, July 12–16, 1993, Tokyo; Berlin; New York, N.Y.: Springer-Verlag, →ISBN, page 635

   Klopfer and Gamble (1966) gave 16 female goats (C. hircus) 5 min of contact with their young at parturition. Nine of the mothers had been temporarily rendered anosmic (could not smell) at parturition by spraying a 10% cocaine hydrogen chloride solution into their nostrils 20–90 min prior to parturition. […] Eight of the nine females who were anosmic at parturition but could smell at reintroduction accepted their own offspring, as well as alien young during reinstatement.

   2008, Edward O. Price, “Maternal and Neonatal Behavior”, in Principles and Applications of Domestic Animal Behavior: An Introductory Text, Wallingford, Oxfordshire; Cambridge, Mass.: CABI, →ISBN, page 149

2. biologyLacking olfactory organs; anosmatic.

   Even in the totally anosmic whale without an olfactory nerve, bulb, or tract, it is noteworthy that the third-order neurons of the olfactory system still persist.

   1978, R. Bruce Masterton, K. K. Glendenning, “Phylogeny of the Vertebrate Sensory Systems”, in R. Bruce Masterton, editor, Sensory Integration (Handbook of Behavioral Neurobiology; 1), New York, N.Y.: Plenum Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 5

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   The whales, porpoises and seals have however a reason that man does not possess for being anosmic. For they, in common with all the living world of earth and air, left the sea millions of years ago and, as they developed lungs with which to breathe, so did they modify their organs of smell to receive sensations from air, not water. Eons later, in comparatively recent geologic times, when these few mammals left the land and returned to the water, this differentiation for air-smelling had gone too far. Their senses of smell failed to react to water-borne stimuli. […] It is worth discussing these anosmic animals, and what caused them to lose the sense of smell.

   1960, James Knox Millen, “chapter II”, in Your Nose Knows: A Study of the Sense of Smell, Los Angeles, Calif.: Cunningham Press, →OCLC, page 13

   Because dolphins are regarded as anosmic, because the animals usually swallow fish and other food whole without mastication, and because, until recently, taste buds had not been found in the tongue of several dolphin species, some cetologists have doubted that the animals possess the sense of taste.

   1990, Sam H. Ridgway, “The Central Nervous System of the Bottlenose Dolphin”, in Stephen Leatherwood, Randall R. Reeves, editors, The Bottlenose Dolphin, San Diego, Calif.; London: Academic Press, →ISBN, page 85

plural anosmics

1. medicineA person with anosmia; a person lacking a sense of smell.

   An anosmic will be able to taste the sweetness of an apple or a pear but will be unable to distinguish between their flavors or be able to taste chocolate.

   2006, Richard L. Doty, Steven M. Bromley, Windolyn D. Panganiban, “Olfactory Function and Dysfunction”, in Byron J. Bailey, Jonas T. Johnson, Shawn D. Newlands, editors, Head & Neck Surgery – Otolaryngology, 4th edition, volume 1, Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, →ISBN, page 298, column 1

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   A person who has lost the sense of smell (an anosmic) is deprived of more than pleasurable sensations, for it has been argued that as the environment becomes more polluted what the nose knows may have to be taken seriously[…].

   1982, Trygg Engen, “Introduction”, in The Perception of Odors (Academic Press Series in Cognition and Perception), New York, N.Y.; London: Academic Press, →ISBN, page 1

   The emotional consequences of smell loss are often underestimated, particularly in the medical community. Anosmics show varying degrees of depressive symptoms, such as feelings of helplessness, isolation in their condition, sad mood, loss of independence, and fatigue. Depression is common among patients with smell dysfunction. One-fifth of a sample of anosmics scored in the clinically depressed range on a depression measure, […]

   2011, Tim Jacob, “The Science of Taste and Smell”, in Francesca Bacci, David Melcher, editors, Art and the Senses, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 202