Impairment of odor recognition and odor-induced emotions in type 1 myotonic dystrophy

This study aimed to test whether type 1 myotonic dystrophy (DM1) patients who have a lower sensitivity to emotional facial expressions have an abnormal olfactory threshold or recognition level. We measured DM1 patients’ performances in an olfactory acuity test and respiratory responses to odor stimuli, and compared their results to those of healthy controls (HCs). We found that DM1 patients exhibited a significantly reduced odor detection sensitivity compared with that in HCs. Three out of seven DM1 patients exhibited impaired odor recognition, while other four patients had significantly lower odor recognition compared with HCs. Even when patients were able to identify the type of odor, the levels of pleasantness they reported experiencing in response to a pleasant odor were significantly lower than those reported by HCs. These subjective data in DM1 patients were reflected in the respiratory responses (RRs). In the current study, one patient showed impairments in both odor detection and odor recognition. Abnormalities of the olfactory limbic areas might have been the cause of the olfactory impairments observed in the DM1 patients.

► Type 1 myotonic dystrophy patients (DM1) exhibited an impairment of odor recognition.
► We examined respiratory responses toward odor in DM 1.
► Olfactory dysfunction in DM1 was reflected in no respiratory response toward odor.
► Lesions of olfactory limbic areas may cause olfactory impairment in DM1.