Phantom Smelling

Abstract

A case of phantom smelling (phantosmia) is described in a 28-yr.-old man who developed permanent bilateral anosmia after a serious injury to olfaction-related brain structures at the age of 25 years. The findings indicate that, even years after loss of input from olfactory receptors, the neural representation of olfactory perception can still recreate olfactory sensations without any conscious recall of them. This indicates that the neural representation of olfactory sensations remains functional and implies that neuronal activity in the olfactory organ or in other brain structures gives rise to olfactory experiences perceived as originating from the perception of original odor substances. The report suggests the intriguing possibility that the olfactory perception is not a passive process that merely reflects its normal input from the olfactory system but is continuously generated by a neural representation in the olfactory organ or in other olfaction-related brain structures, based on both genetic and sensory determinants. To the author's knowledge this is the first reported case of its kind.