10:15 - 12:15
Tue-S3
Room: Waalsprong 1+2
Chair/s:
Jane K Parker, Valentina Parma
Decoding Parosmia: Central contributions
Tue-S3-003
Presented by: Divesh Thaploo
Divesh Thaploo
Smell & Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden
Imagine smelling a pleasant odor like peach as completely disgusting and unpleasant, as faeces. Little is known about this condition called “parosmia” which has a direct impact on diet, mental health and quality of life. Among other hypotheses, aberrant recovery of olfactory sensory neurons has been suggested as possible explanation for this phenomenon. In order to examine the central-nervous contributions, we looked at 148 patients with different degrees of parosmia using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) at a 3T scanner (Siemens, Germany). To examine the overall picture, we employed whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) and region of interest-based FC measures. Region of interest-based FC rested on key olfactory structures as seeds, the bilateral piriform cortex and bilateral orbitofrontal cortex. Whole brain ICA based connectivity suggested reduced FC in Salience and Executive control Network. ROI-based connectivity also suggested reduced FC between olfactory regions. At the level of the whole brain, changes in FC were compatible with enhanced perception of disgust, which is also one of the key olfactory-induced emotions. These changes are even seen at the level of individual brain regions suggesting reduced information flow between olfactory regions. Overall, the present results suggest that the enhanced perception of “disgust” and distortion of stimulus guided decision-making in parosmia is related to changes in information transfer between key relays of the olfactory system.