Assessment of intranasal trigeminal function

Intranasal trigeminal function is more and more understood as an integral p art of human chemosensory perception. Sensations like burning, stinging, wa rmth, coolness, or itching are produced by almost all odorants so that they can be perceived by anosmics. Electrophysiological responses to trigeminal stimuli allow the specific assessment of trigeminally mediated information at different levels of processing including the periphery or the cortex. I nformation regarding the localization of these processes can be derived fro m magnetoencephalographic recordings or functional imaging data. When using these techniques in combination with psychophysical measures, it seems to be possible to specifically describe how and where the processing of irrita tion takes place, how it may interact with olfactory mediated sensations, a nd how it is modulated, e.g. by environmental influences or analgesic drugs . (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.