by Bob Yirka , Medical Xpress

Distinguishing between respiratory rate and respiratory peaks. Credit: Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52650-6

A team of neuroscientists at The Azrieli National Institute for Human Brain Imaging and Research, in Israel, has found that people who have lost the ability to smell have slightly different breathing patterns than those with a normal sense of smell. In their study published in the journal Nature Communications, the group conducted breathing experiments with volunteers in a lab setting.

Anosmia is the inability to smell. Unfortunately, the condition was found to be a common symptom for people with COVID-19. The condition has been studied for hundreds of years and has a variety of causes, from depression to drug use, and negatively impacts quality of life. In this new effort, the research team has found yet another feature of the condition.

The researchers sought to address anecdotal accounts of people who could not smell and began "breathing funny" after contracting COVID-19. To find out if such accounts were true and to quantify the differences, the research team recruited 52 volunteers, 21 of whom were suffering from anosmia.

Each of the volunteers was fitted with a device that monitors breathing and each wore it for 24 hours. The research team found that those volunteers with anosmia did have slightly different than normal breathing patterns.

People without the condition, they note, have small inhalation peaks, which prior research suggests coincides with a suspected change in smell. People without the ability to smell had no such peaks.

The research team also found that they could identify with 83% accuracy which members of the group had anosmia simply by evaluating the breathing patterns. They suggest more research is required to determine if changes in breathing patterns have later impacts, such as an increase in risk of developing depression.

More information: Lior Gorodisky et al, Humans without a sense of smell breathe differently, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52650-6

Journal information: Nature Communications 

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