Smell, an underrated early biomarker for brain aging
- Brai, Emanuele Center for Brain and Disease Research, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) – Catholic University (KU) Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Hummel, Thomas Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Alberi, Lavinia Swiss Integrative Centre for Human Health (SICHH), Fribourg, Switzerland - Department of Oncology, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
- 25.08.2020
Published in:
- Frontiers in Neuroscience. - 2020, vol. 14, p. 792
English
Olfaction is in addition to touch the most ancient of our senses, developing already in the womb it decays progressively from 65 years of age with a more pronounced impairment associated with dementia. Despite its clinical relevance and testing accessibility, smell remains an overlooked biomarker, which is rarely used by neurologists in the early screening phase. In this perspective article, we outline the reasons underlying the lack of awareness for this sense. In an attempt to put olfaction forward as an early biomarker for pathological brain aging, we draw a comparison with vision and hearing, regarded as more relevant for general health. This perspective article wants to encourage further studies aimed at understanding the mechanisms responsible for the early smell dysfunction in individuals a decade or more before the onset of cognitive symptoms.
- Faculty
- Faculté des sciences et de médecine
- Department
- Médecine 3ème année
- Language
-
- English
- Classification
- Biological sciences
- License
- License undefined
- Identifiers
-
- RERO DOC 329487
- DOI 10.3389/fnins.2020.00792
- Persistent URL
- https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/308967
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