Olfactory impairment and sleep disorder may provide early indication of neurodegenerative disorders

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K00210
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Cognitive science
• Research Institution: Showa University
• Principal Investigator: Masaoka Yuri 昭和大学, 医学部, 講師 (70398692)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 河村 満 昭和大学, 医学部, 客員教授 (20161375) ; 泉崎 雅彦 昭和大学, 医学部, 教授 (20398697) ; 吉田 正樹 東京慈恵会医科大学, 医学部, 講師 (30220677)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 嗅覚 / レム睡眠行動障害 / パーキンソン病 / 海馬 / 扁桃体 / 機能的磁気共鳴画像 / 嗅内野皮質

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Declining olfactory perception may be a biomarker for impairment of cognitive function and of impending illnesses in neurodegenerative disorders. We examined to see brain activities during olfactory stimuli using functional magnetic resonance image (fMRI) in healthy controls and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) who having a risk to develop to Parkinsons’ disease (PD). RBD were divided into two conditions: RBD with normal odor recognition (RBD-normal OR) and RBD with impaired odor recognition (RBD-impaired OR). fMRI results showed olfactory limbic areas including the amygdala, entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, were less activated during olfactory stimuli in RBD-impaired OR compared with RBD-with normal OR and controls, especially activations in the OFC were not observed in RBD-impaired OR. We found the RBD-impaired OR had symptoms of PD at this stage. It is possible to speculate that both having impairment of olfaction and RBD may have the risk to develop to PD.

Free Research Field

嗅覚