Lateralisation of nasal cycle is not reflected in the olfactory bulb volumes and cerebral activations

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Abstract

Nasal cycle (NC) is a rhythmic change of lateralised nasal airflow mediated by the autonomous nervous system. Previous studies reported the dependence of NC dominance or more patent side on handedness and hemispheric cerebral activity. We aimed to investigate firstly the possible lateralised effect of NC on olfactory bulb volume and secondly the association of NC with the lateralised cerebral dominance in terms of olfactory processing. Thirty-five subjects (22 women and 13 men, mean age 26 ± 3 years) participated in the study. NC was ascertained using a portable rhino-flowmeter. Structural and functional brain measurements were assessed using a 3T MR scanner. Vanillin odorant was presented during functional scans using a computer-controlled olfactometer. NC was found to be independent of the olfactory bulb volumes. Also, cerebral activations were found independent of the NC during odorant perception. NC potency is not associated with lateralised structural or functional differences in the cerebral olfactory system.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Number of pages8
JournalEuropean journal of neuroscience
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 26 Mar 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 38530120
ORCID /0000-0001-9713-0183/work/157319379
unpaywall 10.1111/ejn.16323
Scopus 85189504321

Keywords

Keywords

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Laterality index (LI), Laterality index wake, Nasal Holter, Nasal cycle