Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jun 15:425:117433.
doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2021.117433. Epub 2021 Apr 3.

Olfaction and anosmia: From ancient times to COVID-19

Stéphane Mathis  1 , Gwendal Le Masson  2 , Antoine Soulages  3 , Fanny Duval  4 , Louis Carla  5 , Jean-Michel Vallat  6 , Guilhem Solé  4
Affiliations
Review

Olfaction and anosmia: From ancient times to COVID-19

Stéphane Mathis et al. J Neurol Sci. .

Abstract

Olfaction, one of our five main qualitative sensory abilities, is the action of smelling or the capacity to smell. Olfactory impairment can be a sign of a medical problem, from a benign nasal/sinus problem up to a potentially serious brain injury. However, although clinicians (neurologists or not) usually test the olfactory nerves in specific clinical situations (for example, when a neurodegenerative disorder is suspected), they may omit such tests in many other situations. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the resurgence of anosmia has reminded us of the importance of testing this sensorineural function. We retrace here the main historical steps and discoveries concerning olfaction and anosmia.

Keywords: Anosmia; COVID-19; Infection; Olfaction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There is no conflict of interest associated with this review.

Figures

Unlabelled Image
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic and simplified representation of the olfactory circuitry. Examples of the localization of some neuropathological changes due to Alzheimer's disease and COVID-19 are showed (stars) (COVID-19: coronavirus disease 2019; SARS-CoV-2: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Doty R.L. 3rd ed. Wiley Blackwell; Hoboken, New Jersey: 2015. Handbook of Olfaction and Gustation.
    1. Chauveau C. J.B. Baillière & Fils; Paris: 1912. Recherches sur l'histoire de l'anatomie et de la physiologie des fosses nasales depuis Hippocrates jusqu'à la période spécialistique.
    1. Hirsch A. Gustavus Lange; Berolini: 1864. De Collectionis Hippocraticae Auctorum Anatomia.
    1. Wright J. Lea & Febiger; Philadelphia and New York: 1914. A History of Laryngology and Rhinology.
    1. Turliuc D.M., Sava A., Cucu A.I., Turliuc S., Dumitrescu A.M., Costea C.F. Cribriform plate and Galen's Cribrum Romanum. Revist Romana Anat. Clin. Antropol. 2016;15(1):123–126.