Emotion-Olfaction Pathway: an essay on the integration between affective and olfactory systems as a therapeutic approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-6564e240127Keywords:
olfactory disorders, COVID-19, affective disorders, sense of smell, olfactory therapyAbstract
Olfactory disorders emerge as complications associated to the COVID-19 pandemic, disturbing basic aspects of quality of life such as personal hygiene, food ingestion, and social interactions. These complications can worsen by affective disorders such as anxiety and depression resulting from long lasting olfactory disorders. This study aims to elucidate a potential emotion-olfaction pathway considering the hypotheses of Herz, Bensafi, and Rouby regarding the social functions of olfaction and the theoretical proposals of LeDoux, Damasio, and Panksepp concerning basic emotions. As olfactory disorders influence primary functions and subjective perception, contributing to secondary affective disorders, they impact the lives and behaviors of those affected, we propose a biopsychosocial approach to offer clinical and therapeutic assistance in these conditions, exploring the hypothesis of shared structures between olfactory and affective pathways to mitigate the clinical challenges in the assessment and intervention for these conditions.
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