Effects of electrical stimulation of the human olfactory mucosa.
Electrical stimulation of the human olfactory mucosa was performed by means of an electrode attached to a rhinoscope . Stimulation of the nasal mucosa did not evoke smell sensations, but suppressed smell sensations of presented odorants. When electrical stimulation followed the exposure to an odorant within a certain interval, the stimulus recalled the already faded sensation of the preceding odorant. Electrical stimulation without prior natural stimulation produced unpleasant sensations in 3 patients with a history of temporal lobe seizures and olfactory auras , but not in patients with primary, generalized or focal epilepsy.
D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004828:Epilepsies, Partial / Q000503:physiopathology; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D009831:Olfactory Mucosa / Q000294:innervation*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*