Treating Parosmia With Smell Training Techniques
In Treating Parosmia With Smell Training Techniques, learn how smell training can help someone who has lost their sense of smell. Follow Cris Kelly, a person who has experienced a disrupted sense of smell due to parosmia and is using a form of therapy to retrain her olfactory system. The process involves smelling strong scents like lemon, rose, clove, and eucalyptus in a structured way to help the brain reorganize its connections and restore smell. This training shows how neuroplasticity can help retrain the brain after sensory loss. This video is excerpted from BBC’s The World’s Most Extraordinary People, a documentary series revealing how rare medical conditions inspire groundbreaking scientific discoveries.
Lesson Express
Q: How does smell typically reach the brain?
A: Smell is detected by sensors in the nose, which send signals to the olfactory nerve and then to the olfactory bulb in the brain.
Q: How does Cris Kelly describe the disruption in the olfactory system?
A: She compares the disruption to a telephone system where the wires are dropped and not correctly rewired, causing scrambled signals.
Q: How might smell training help people with parosmia or other forms of smell loss?
A: Smell training can help retrain the brain to correctly interpret smells by repeatedly exposing it to certain scents, which can rewire the neural connections involved in smell perception.