When we think of hallucinations, two different modalities usually come to mind: ‘seeing things that don’t exist’ or ‘hearing voices in the head’. If we analyze it, these two phenomena correspond to two ‘false’ perceptions (rather, that do not respond to a real and external object) in sight and hearing, respectively.
However, these perceptions without an external object are not exclusive to these two senses, but can also appear for various reasons in others. When they are given in the smellexplains the researcher Jonathan Graff-Radford for the website of the prestigious mayo clinic American, are known under the name of fantosmia.
What is phantomia and what are its causes?
As we say, fantosmia is a clinical phenomenon in which the person who suffers from it perceives odors that are not really present. concrete smells vary widely from person to person; they can be pleasant or unpleasant; They can be perceived with one or the other nostril and can be perpetual or intermittent.
Las causes can be very varied, and of different natures; phantosmia may respond to brain injury, upper respiratory tract infection (such as covid-19), aging, brain tumor, psychiatric disorders, certain medications or substances, or Parkinson’s disease, among other causes.
It is important, however, to distinguish fantasmia from other olfactory disorders which may be similar. For example, it is a different phenomenon than anosmia or hyposmia, in which there is an absence or decreased sense of smell. In the same way, it could be confused with parosmia, a condition in which one or several odors change and are no longer perceived in the same way as before, while the rest continue to be perceived as always. All these problems are some relatively common consequences of covid-19, among other respiratory infectious diseases.
References
Jonathan Graff-Radford. Phantosmia: what causes olfactory hallucinations? Mayo Clinic (2022). Consulted online at https://www.mayoclinic.org/es-es/diseases-conditions/temporal-lobe-seizure/expert-answers/phantosmia/faq-20058131 on 02/06/2023.