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Complex Impairments to the Olfactory Sensory System in Schizophrenia

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This article analyzes published data and shows that the functioning of the olfactory system is impaired in schizophrenia. Structural and functional anomalies extend from the cortex to the peripheral apparatus of the olfactory sensory system. As the olfactory sensory system is anatomically the most tightly linked with the temporal-limbic and frontal lobes, which are the most involved in schizophrenia and underlie the social, emotional, and cognitive anomalies in this pathology, studies of olfaction may provide a suitable tool for assessing the structural and functional integrity of these pathomorphological neural substrates. Because of this link, olfactory dysfunction can be used as a sensitive indicator both for the early diagnosis of schizophrenia and for differential diagnosis, especially in people with high genetic risk of illness. The relationship between one of the leading pathogenetic components of schizophrenia – a defect in postanal neurogenesis – with formation of anomalies in the olfactory system is of particular interest. Studies of schizophrenia have in recent years started to use biopsies of the olfactory neuroepithelium, allowing the molecular mechanisms of the pathogenesis the disease to be observed in model cultures. Thus, the olfactory neuroepithelium can be used as a model not only facilitating identification of preclinical biomarkers but also linking them with the specific mechanisms of the disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

    E. V. Bigdai, V. O. Samoilov & A. A. Sinegubov

  2. Almazov National Medical Research Center, Russian Federation Ministry of Health, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. A. Sinegubov

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  2. V. O. Samoilov
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Correspondence to E. V. Bigdai.

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Translated from Uspekhi Fiziologicheskikh Nauk, Vol. 52, No. 2, pp. 93–104, April–June, 2021.

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Bigdai, E.V., Samoilov, V.O. & Sinegubov, A.A. Complex Impairments to the Olfactory Sensory System in Schizophrenia. Neurosci Behav Physi 52, 598–606 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-022-01280-w

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