Læknablaðið : fylgirit - 01.06.2005, Blaðsíða 36

ABSTRACTS / XXIX CONGRESS OF THE NORDIC ASSOCIATION OF OTOLARYNGOLOGY
Abstract no.: 089
Benefits of teaching voice amplification as related to
subjective laryngeal symptoms and perceived voice quality
in teachers
Valdís Jónsdóttir, Iceland
Loud speaking due to noisy working conditions is a common
cause for teachers’ voice disorders. One way to diminish the
vocal load of teaching is to make use of technical equipment.
This Icelandic study explores: (1) if the use of amplification in
classrooms would diminish the teachers’ experienced symptoms
of vocal fatigue; and (2) whether there is a possible change in per-
ceptual voice quality during a teacher’s working day. Thirty-three
teachers, from grade school to university level, voluntarily served
as subjects. They used amplifiers while teaching for one week at
least. After that, they filled out a questionnaire concerning their
symptoms and experiences. The results showed that the majority
of teachers found amplification beneficial. They found it easier
to talk and experienced less fatigue. The few disadvantages were
technical. For a perceptual analysis, three females and two males
(mean age 51 years) with long teaching experience and three
or more dysphonic symptoms during the term, had their speech
recorded while teaching, with and without amplification. In the
clinical examination, no pathological changes were found in the
vocal folds. In both studies, the quality of the voices was esteemed
better when amplification was used.
S-XV LIVE SURGERY
S-XVI WHAT’S REALLY THE NOSE FOR? THE
VOMERONASALORGAN AND OLFACTION
Abstract no.: 090
Jacobson’s organ in the Nordic countries
Malm L, Uddman R, Dept. of ORL, Malmö University Hospital,
University of Lund
‘Smell is the sense of memory and desire’ (Rousseau 1712-1778)).
The sense of desire is in most mammals localized to a small struc-
ture at the base of the vomer, the vomeronasal organ (VNO).
This structure was discovered by the Danish anatomist, Ludvig
Jacobson, who in 1811 described the structure in no less than
16 different mammalian species. He had several suggestions as
to the function. Not the least did he suggest it to be a chemical
sense organ. In Sweden, the anatomist Gustaf Retzius, at the
end of the 19th century, corroborated earlier studies and further
strengthened the suggestion that the VNO was a sense organ.
Ivar Broman, Professor of Anatomy in Lund, published at the
celebration of the 250 years jubilee of the Lund University, a
monograph titled 'Das Organon Vomero-Nasale Jacobsoni - ein
Wassergeruchsorgan’. He had studied a great number of mam-
malian species and confirmed that the VNO was present in the
animals but not in man. This shows that only man among the
mammals needs the whole CNS to experience desire.
36 Læknablaðið/Fylgirit 51 2005/91
Abstract no.: 091
The structure and function of VNO in mammals
Kjell B. Dpving
IMBV, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
The vomeronasal organ is a chemosensory organ, also called
‘organ of Jacobson’ as it was discovered by the Danish anatomist
L. Jacobson. In 1813 he described the organ as follows: ‘It is locat-
ed in the foremost part of the nasal cavity, in close contact with the
nasal cartilage (septum), on the above-mentioned palatal elonga-
tions of the intermaxillary bone. It is so carefully concealed that it
has avoided discovery by the very discerning eyes of several anat-
omists.’ The long vomeronasal organ is enclosed in a cartilaginous
capsule. The sensory epithelium covers one side of the organ’s
lumen; the other side is occupied by the so-called mushroom body,
with a cavernous structure. The anterior part of the lumen opens
to the nasopalatine duct. Via this duct, fluid can enter the lumen
from the nose or the mouth. The primary sensory neurones end in
the accessory olfactory bulb. The entry of chemosignalling fluids
is often associated with a particular behaviour, flehmen. Horses
lift their heads, wrinkle their nose, lift their upper lips and stop
breathing for a moment and then give a neigh.
Functional studies have shown that the organ mediates infor-
mation about the social and sexual status of other conspecifics;
indicating that the vomeronasal organ mediates information
carried by pheromones. For example it has been shown that an
intact vomeronasal organ is essential for successful reproductive
behaviour in sexually na'íve animals. Substances carried in the urine
from dominant males can accelerate maturation of juvenile females
and suppress maturation of juvenile males. In the presentation the
anatomical and functional properties of the vomeronasal system
that gives these biological effects will be discussed.
Abstract no.: 092
The olfactory sense and the VNO in man
Trotier D1, Eloit C1, Bensimon JL2, Pernollet JC3, Briand L3, D0ving KB4
'Neurobiologie Sensorielle, NOPA, INRA, F 78352 Jouy-en-Josas, France,
2ENT, Höpital Lariboisiére, F 75010 Paris, France, 3Biochimie Olfaction
et Goút, NOPA, INRA, F 78352 Jouy-en-Josas, France, 4Dpt of Biology,
University of Oslo, Box 1051, N-0316, Norway
In humans, the vomeronasal organ is non-functional. Although
our endoscopic observations revealed the existence of vomerona-
sal cavities at the base of the septum in many subjects, our immu-
nohistological observations failed to reveal the presence of vom-
eronasal sensory neurones. In addition, other studies have failed
to demonstrate vomeronasal receptor proteins VRl, vomeronasal
transduction channels TRP2 or accessory olfactory bulbs; all fea-
tures characteristic of a functional vomeronasal system.
Humans rely only on their olfactory system to analyse odorants
and the olfactory sensory epithelium is restricted to a narrow
passage at the upper part of each nasal cavity, namely the olfactory
cleft. Patients with an impaired sense of smell verified in detection
and recognition tests, had an obstructive pathology specifically
located to the olfactory clefts as revealed by CT scans. Open
olfactory clefts are essential for a normal olfactory function.