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Olfaction as a marker for depression

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Abstract

Olfactory and emotional higher processing pathways share common anatomical substrates. Hence, depression is often accompanied by alterations in olfactory function. These alterations are negative in nature and may involve decreased activation in olfactory eloquent structures or decreased volume in the olfactory bulb (OB). We suggest that olfaction and depression interact in two ways. First, olfactory function in depression is impaired as a consequence of reduced olfactory attention and diminished olfactory receptor turnover rates. Second, the OB may constitute a marker for enhanced vulnerability to depression. Closer analysis of these interactions may help to explain observed experimental data, as well as to elucidate new therapeutic strategies involving olfaction. Because of the difficulties to disentangle cause from consequence in the relationship between olfaction and depression, longitudinal and intervention studies are necessary to elucidate this further.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft to TH (DFG HU441/18-1).

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  1. Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstr. 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany

    Ilona Croy

  2. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Smell and Taste Clinic, Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany

    Thomas Hummel

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Croy, I., Hummel, T. Olfaction as a marker for depression. J Neurol 264, 631–638 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-016-8227-8

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