The Olfactory System in Health and Disease

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Systems Neuroscience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 March 2026 | Viewed by 295

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Guest Editor
Biology Department, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, VA 23005, USA
Interests: olfactory system; visual system; neural plasticity; behavior; mood disorders
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The sense of smell is an ancient sensory system that is part of the brain’s limbic network, controlling emotions and drives. Perhaps not surprisingly, then, olfaction has been implicated in several neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. For example, a rogues’ gallery of disorders including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and multiple sclerosis are all accompanied by some loss of smell. Indeed, in many cases, olfactory decline presages the more devastating symptoms of these conditions. Mood disorders, including depression and anxiety, are also associated with olfactory dysfunction, both as causes and effects. Thus, the olfactory system is and will likely remain a key component of efforts to discover etiologies, treatments, and eventual cures for a host of brain diseases which continue to cause so much human suffering. In this Special Issue, we invite original research and focused reviews from both basic and clinical scientists on any topic investigating the olfactory system in health and disease. Works using modern technologies to examine the nexus between olfaction and neurological disease are of particular interest, though novel work advancing the basic science of normal olfaction is also welcome.

Dr. David M. Coppola
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Alzheimer’s
  • Parkinson’s
  • Huntington’s
  • MS
  • depression
  • anxiety
  • disorder
  • olfactory bulbectomy
  • anosmia
  • smell
  • limbic system

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

16 pages, 1167 KiB  
Review
The Olfactory Bulbectomy Model of Depression: Brief History, Current Status and Critique
by David Coppola
Brain Sci. 2025, 15(8), 775; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15080775 - 22 Jul 2025
Viewed by 90
Abstract
In the last several decades, a number of animal models of neurological diseases have been proposed and validated to one degree or another. This review focuses on the olfactory bulbectomized rodent as a model of major depression, a disorder that, because of its [...] Read more.
In the last several decades, a number of animal models of neurological diseases have been proposed and validated to one degree or another. This review focuses on the olfactory bulbectomized rodent as a model of major depression, a disorder that, because of its prevalence, has been called the “common cold” of neurological diseases, though the disability it causes is far more profound. After describing the method, a brief history of this model and the various validity claims made for it are discussed. Though a legion of physiological and biochemical sequelae of bulbectomy and other animal models of depression have been reported, the focus of this review is behavioral. Therefore, the neurochemical and molecular aspects of the depression models mentioned in this review will not be explored in depth. Lastly, unresolved questions posed by the bulbectomy model are considered along with its utility in the study of other neurological diseases and its future prospects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Olfactory System in Health and Disease)
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