ArticleJournal of affective disorders2015
Differential odor sensitivity in PTSD: Implications for treatment and future research.
Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychophysiological reactivity, coping behaviour and intrusive memories upon multisensory Virtual Reality and Script-Driven Imagery analogue trauma: A randomised controlled crossover study.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2018Trial
- Electrical stimulation of the trigeminal nerve improves olfaction in healthy individuals: A randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial.Brain stimulationTrial
- Establishment and characterization of a mouse model of cisplatin-induced olfactory aversion.Biochemistry and biophysics reports · 2026Article
- Structural covariance, regional topology, and volumetric aspects of amygdala subnuclei in posttraumatic stress disorder using ultra-high field imaging.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Study of Chemosensory Enhancement through Neuromodulation Training (SCENT): Design and methodology of a randomized clinical trial for COVID-related persistent smell dysfunction.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2026Article
- Odor-enhanced Visual Processing in PTSD.NeuroImage · 2025Article
- Phantosmia and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures in a patient with burning mouth syndrome suffering from severe depression.BMJ case reports · 2022Article
- First-episode olfactory hallucination in a patient with anxiety disorder: A case report.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Olfactory Virtual Reality: A New Frontier in the Treatment and Prevention of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.Brain sciences · 2021Article
- Anxiety-related shifts in smell function in children and adolescents.Chemical senses · 2021Article
- Automatic Detection of Target Engagement in Transcutaneous Cervical Vagal Nerve Stimulation for Traumatic Stress Triggers.IEEE journal of biomedical and health informatics · 2020Article
- Intrinsic sensory disinhibition contributes to intrusive re-experiencing in combat veterans.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Odor sensitivity impairment: a behavioral marker of psychological distress?CNS spectrums · 2019Article
- Effect of Worry Level on Recall Memory for Odors in ApoE-ε4 Carriers and Non-Carriers.Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS · 2019Article
- Pavlovian Olfactory Fear Conditioning: Its Neural Circuity and Importance for Understanding Clinical Fear-Based Disorders.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2019Review
- Preliminary evidence for differential olfactory and trigeminal processing in combat veterans with and without PTSD.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2018Article
- The Neurobiology of Fear Generalization.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2018Review
- Paradoxical olfactory function in combat veterans: The role of PTSD and odor factors.Military psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2018Article
- An Innovative Framework for Delivering Psychotherapy to Patients With Treatment-Resistant Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Rationale for Interactive Motion-Assisted Therapy.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2018Article
- Persistent, generalized hypersensitivity of olfactory bulb interneurons after olfactory fear generalization.Neurobiology of learning and memory · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGiven that odors enhance the retrieval of autobiographical memories, induce physiological arousal, and trigger trauma-related flashbacks, it is reasonable to hypothesize that odors play a significant role in the pathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For these reasons, this preliminary study sought to examine self-reported, odor-elicited distress in PTSD.
methodsCombat veterans with (N=30) and without (N=22) PTSD and healthy controls (HC: N=21), completed an olfactory questionnaire that provided information on the hedonic valence of odors as well as their ability to elicit distress or relaxation.
resultsTwo main findings were revealed: Compared to HC, CV+PTSD, but not CV-PTSD, reported a higher prevalence of distress to a limited number of select odors that included fuel (p=.004), blood (p=.02), gunpowder (p=.03), and burning hair (p=.02). In contrast to this increased sensitivity, a blunting effect was reported by both groups of veterans compared to HC that revealed lower rates of distress and relaxation in response to negative hedonic odors (p=.03) and positive hedonic odors (p<.001), respectively. LIMITATIONS: The study is limited by its use of retrospective survey methods, whereas future investigations would benefit from laboratory measures taken prior, during, and after deployment.
conclusionThe present findings suggest a complex role of olfaction in the biological functions of threat detection. Several theoretical models are discussed. One possible explanation for increased sensitivity to select odors with decreased sensitivity to other odors is the co-occurrence of attentional bias toward threat odors with selective ignoring of distractor odors. Working together, these processes may optimize survival.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.