Odor identification: the blind are better.

Twenty sighted and twenty blind adults, 19 to 66 years of age, participated in tests of olfactory sensitivity to n-butyl alcohol and of identification of 80 everyday odors. The blind had poorer absolute sensitivity, but outperformed the sighted at identification. Age proved an important factor in the comparison; more than half the variance in identification within each group was ascribable to an age-related decline.