Smell training improves olfactory function and alters brain structure

Aïn, Syrina Al; Poupon, Daphnée; Hétu, Sébastien; Mercier, Noémie; Steffener, Jason; Frasnelli, Johannes

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.01.008

Cited by 69 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…It is perhaps time to start screening children, or perhaps even babies, using non-verbal measures of olfaction (Rozenkrantz et al, 2015). Early identification of reduced olfaction could then perhaps be addressed within an odor enrichment program (Al Aïn et al, 2019) in the aim of triggering compensatory mechanisms such as those possibly in action in NAB1 and NAB2. This could potentially prevent the many deleterious, yet widely underappreciated, outcomes associated with anosmia (Croy et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Olfaction without Apparent Olfactory Bulbs

Weiss

Soroka

Gorodisky

et al. 2020

Neuron

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Olfaction without Apparent Olfactory Bulbs

Weiss

Soroka

Gorodisky

et al. 2020

Neuron

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“…In addition, structural brain modifications could also occur beyond the OB (Reichert and Schöpf, 2018). Finally, olfactory plasticity has also been recently highlighted by olfactory training, which was found to improve significantly olfactory skills regardless of baseline olfactory function (Sorokowska et al, 2017) and to lead to increased cortical thickness of certain brain areas (Al Aïn et al, 2019). Interestingly, olfactory training was also shown to improve verbal function and subjective well-being in older people (Wegener et al, 2018).…”

Section: Accelerated Brain Agingmentioning

confidence: 97%

Mechanisms Linking Olfactory Impairment and Risk of Mortality

et al. 2020

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Olfaction is a sense involved in a complex set of tasks, influencing eating behavior, increasing awareness of environmental hazards and affecting social communication. Surprisingly, smell disorders are very frequent, especially in the elderly population. Several recent studies conducted mostly in older subjects have demonstrated a strong association between olfactory impairment and overall mortality risk, with anosmia being even more predictive of 5 years mortality risk than cardiovascular disease. Presently, the underlying pathophysiology linking olfactory impairment to mortality remains unknown and only putative mechanisms are suggested. This review aims to examine the link between olfactory impairment and mortality and to discuss existing ideas on underlying existing mechanisms including, (1) the effect of olfactory loss on nutrition, life-threatening situations and social interactions, (2) associated neurodegenerative diseases, (3) accelerated brain aging, and (4) reflection of general health status being reflected in olfactory function.

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“…However, a meta-analysis of 13 studies, all using a standardized form of testing and with a combined total of over 1000 participants, found evidence for large effect size improvements in odour identification and discrimination, and small-tomoderate improvements in sensitivity threshold (e.g. [75,76]). Other studies report training effects using other odorants and other tasks; for example, several days of practice improved the ability of adults to detect and follow a trail of chocolate odour across a grass field, as assessed by both increased movement speed and reduced lateral deviation from the trail [19].…”

Section: (C) Desensitizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human olfactory communication: current challenges and future prospects

Roberts

Havlı́ček

Schaal

2020

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Although anthropologists frequently report the centrality of odours in the daily lives and cultural beliefs of many small-scale communities, Western scholars have historically considered the sense of smell as minimally involved in human communication. Here, we suggest that the origin and persistence of this latter view might be a consequence of the fact that most research is conducted on participants from Western societies who, collectively, were rather old (adults), deodorized and desensitized (ODD) to various aspects of olfactory perception. The view is rapidly changing, however, and this themed issue provides a timely overview of the current state-of-the-art on human chemocommunication. Based on evolutionary models of communication, the papers cover both general mechanisms of odour production by ‘senders’ and odour perception by ‘receivers’. Focus on specific functional contexts includes reciprocal impact of odours between infants and mothers, the role of odour in mate choice and how odours communicate emotion and disease. Finally, a position paper outlines pitfalls and opportunities for the future, against the context of the replication crisis in psychology. We believe a more nuanced view of human chemical communication is within our grasp if we can continue to develop inter-disciplinary insights and expand research activities beyond ODD people. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Olfactory communication in humans’.

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Smell training improves olfactory function and alters brain structure

Cited by 69 publications

References 88 publications

Human Olfaction without Apparent Olfactory Bulbs

Human Olfaction without Apparent Olfactory Bulbs

Mechanisms Linking Olfactory Impairment and Risk of Mortality

Human olfactory communication: current challenges and future prospects

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