Longitudinal Deep Phenotyping of Central Mechanisms in Dysosmia: A Pilot Study Using Electrobulbogram (EBG), Functional MRI (fMRI), and Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI)

Launched by NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS (NIDCD) · Aug 29, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying how the brain works in people who have problems with their sense of smell, such as losing their smell completely, having a reduced sense of smell, or experiencing distorted smells. Researchers want to understand how these changes affect people over time and how smell loss impacts their quality of life. The study includes people aged 18 and older who have a smell disorder, as well as healthy volunteers without smell problems.

Participants will visit the study center five times over one year. During these visits, they will take smell tests, answer questions about their health and mood, and undergo brain scans using MRI while smelling different odors. They will also wear a special sensor cap to measure brain activity, have a small camera inserted into their nose to look inside, and may have a tiny tissue sample taken from their nasal passages after numbing the area. Blood, urine, and nasal fluid samples will also be collected. This study aims to learn more about how smell disorders affect the brain and daily life, which could help improve future treatments.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• * INCLUSION CRITERIA:
• To be eligible to participate in this study, an individual must meet all the following criteria:
• • 1. Adult subjects, any sex, aged 18 or older.
• • 2. Ability to understand and willingness to sign a written informed consent document.
• • 3. Willingness and ability to comply with and participate in all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study.
• • 4. Due to the extensive questionnaires (administered in English language only) that participants must complete independently, fluency in the English language is needed. Hence, participants must be able to read and understand English.
• \* To maintain consistency in the study, we will prioritize enrolling individuals who have experienced olfactory loss for no more than one year. However, the duration of olfactory dysfunction can vary significantly, often due to delayed awareness or recognition of the condition. For instance, anosmia and hyposmia are frequently reported as long-term consequences of infections, meaning some participants may have experienced prolonged dysfunction. Given this variability, we will treat the duration of olfactory loss as a potential confounding factor in our data analysis, ensuring that its influence is appropriately accounted for when interpreting the results. Other than healthy controls, participants reporting smell loss must also meet one or more of the following criteria to be eligible for the study:
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• 1. General Smell Loss:
• • Individuals who have experienced any degree of smell loss or olfactory dysfunction, regardless of the cause. This includes both partial, complete to distorted loss of the sense of smell (hyposmia, anosmia or parosmia).
• 2. Post-COVID-19 or Virus-Related Smell Loss:
• • Individuals experiencing olfactory dysfunction due to COVID-19, influenza or other respiratory viruses, leading to both acute and long-term (chronic) smell loss
• 3. Sinonasal Smell Loss:
• Participants diagnosed with smell loss related to sinonasal conditions, such as:
• • Chronic Rhinosinusitis: Long-term inflammation of the sinuses that impairs olfactory function.
• • Nasal Polyps: Growths in the nasal passage that obstruct airflow and affect the sense of smell.
• 4. Exposure to Toxic Chemicals:
• • Patients who have encountered olfactory dysfunction due to exposure to harmful chemicals or environmental toxins that can impair the olfactory receptors or neural pathways responsible for the sense of smell.
• 5\. Chemotherapy-Induced Smell Loss:
• • Individuals who have experienced smell loss as a side effect of undergoing chemotherapy. This includes patients who are in active treatment as well as those who have completed chemotherapy but continue to suffer from olfactory impairment.
• EXCLUSION CRITERIA:
• An individual who meets any of the following criteria will be excluded from participation in this study:
• • 1. Compromised cognitive ability: Including dementia, intellectual disability, or severe learning disorders, traumatic brain injury,
• • 2. Major psychotic and neurological condition: Examples include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis, epilepsy.
• 3. Normosmia (healthy) controls must not have:
• • -Any history of smell or taste loss.
• • -Prior nasal surgery.
• • Acute or chronic olfactory disorders.
• • 4. Diagnosis of depression or anxiety.
• • 5. None of the participants should be current smokers or consume drugs such as cocaine, heroin, opioids, or marijuana.
• • 6. Pregnancy
• • Participants who report moderate depressive symptoms (BDI \>= 20) but do not have a formal diagnosis of depression will not be automatically excluded from the study. Instead, their responses will be flagged for clinical review and referral. If, upon follow-up, a clinical diagnosis of depression is confirmed, they may be excluded in accordance with the study's exclusion criteria. Participants who indicate any level of suicidality on question 9 will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. If there is any indication of risk, they will be referred for immediate clinical evaluation. Depending on the outcome and the risk level determined, a decision will be made regarding their continued participation, with participant safety as the highest priority.
• • fMRI-Specific Exclusion Criteria
• • -Metallic implants, such as pacemakers, cochlear implants, or orthopedic devices, can pose safety risks during an MRI scan due to the strong magnetic fields used in the procedure. These implants can also cause artifacts in the MRI images, distorting the data and making it difficult to obtain accurate results.
• • Non-removable piercings can also cause safety risks and image artifacts during MRI scans. These piercings may heat up or move in response to the magnetic fields, potentially causing injury or discomfort to the participant.
• • Permanent makeup and tattoos, particularly those containing metallic pigments, can pose risks during MRI due to the potential for heating or movement of the pigments. These effects can cause discomfort or burns and will also create artifacts in the MRI images.
• • Pregnancy is an exclusion criterion for MRI studies due to the potential risks to the fetus from the strong magnetic fields and radiofrequency energy used in the procedure. Additionally, pregnant participants will find it uncomfortable to lie still in the MRI machine for extended periods, which could affect the quality of the images.