Autism spectrum disorders and chemoreception: Dead-end or fruitful avenue of inquiry?

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Conditions (including Autism Spectrum Disorder/ASD, Asperger's Syndrome/AS, and pervasive developmental disorder/PDD) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by clinical impairments in social interaction and communication, and stereotypical and repetitive patterns of behavior (DSM-IV-TR, 2000; ICD-10, 1993). Since the term first gained currency through the pioneering work of Kanner in 1943 who described 11 cases of "autistic disturbance of affective contact and... desire for preservation of sameness", it has subsequently been incorporated into DSM in 1999 and has been further re-defined in DSM-V to now describe one category of disorder (Autism Spectrum Disorder) with two dimensions: social communication impairment and repetitive behavior [see Kent et al. (2013), for commentary]. This paper considers the literature concerning one of the least studied aspects of ASD: chemosensory perception, and evaluates critically some of the current methods and practices in this area. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review of this field. © 2014 Martin and Daniel.