Smell loss in dementia: which brain regions are involved?

What is it about?

Losing the sense of smell is common in dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Smell loss is linked to health hazards, eating disturbances and depression. One of the key brain regions involved in smell is the olfactory bulb. Our MRI analysis has shown that the olfactory bulbs are normal sized (i.e., not degenerated) in AD and FTD at first visit to a dementia clinic, however, these structures lose around 10-25% of their size one year later, likely contributing to smell difficulties. Knowing which brain structures are involved in smell loss could helps us design and create treatments for loss of this crucial sense.

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Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash