Projects & Grants




Assessment of olfactory impairment in patients with Parkinson's disease using the Olfactory Optimization Method
Project IdSGS01/LF/2024
Main solverMgr. Eva Augste
Period1/2024 - 12/2024
ProviderSpecifický VŠ výzkum
Statesolved
AnotationParkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic progressive disease that results from degenerative neuronal death in the pars compacta substantiae nigrae, but also from the death of other nuclei of the brainstem, cortex and peripheral ganglia. Typical symptoms of this disease include motor symptoms such as tremor, bradykinesia and rigidity. However, in the early stages of the disease, non-motor symptoms such as disturbances of intestinal motility, depression, fatigue and others are mainly observed. The most prominent symptom is the impairment or loss of sense of smell, which can occur decades before the onset of the disease. Using the Olfactory Optimization method, the outcome of the examination can be refined. The objective olfactometer measures olfactory event-evoked potentials (OERPs) and trigeminal event-evoked potentials (TERPs). The absence of olfactory potentials is a strong indicator of the presence of olfactory dysfunction. Event-evoked potentials (ERPs) are an electrophysiological technique that allows assessment of changes in olfactory function, which is an objective assessment of the integrity of olfactory pathways. This method consists in presenting an odorant using a special device (objective olfactometer) into the patient's nasal cavity and detecting the electrical activity of neurons (synaptic activity) in the olfactoric pathway induced by the odorant. The main advantage is the objectification of the response to the odorant and the direct assessment of the preserved olfactory nerve function. The response to the stimulus is measured by conventional electroencephalography (EEG). The aim of the present project is to refine the output of psychophysical examinations of the sense of smell and thus to determine whether in the case of a disorder or loss of smell it is a damage to the olfactory nerve or perception in the olfactory centre. This project was build on SGS02/LF/2023 and SGS/07/LF/2021. Through these projects, a database of PN patients, controls and those at