# Non-invasive recording from the human olfactory bulb

> **NIH NIH R21** · MONELL CHEMICAL SENSES CENTER · 2020 · $193,938

## Abstract

Project Summary
Chemosensory neuroscience has the ability to acquire relatively non-invasive recordings from all main stages
of human olfactory processing but one, the olfactory bulb (OB). This lack of existing recording techniques
poses a serious problem for the advancement of our understanding of how the human olfactory system works
in health and disease. The General Aim of this application is to establish the first non-invasive method to
acquire odorant responses from the human OB in a conscious human. Based on preliminary data, we
hypothesize that signals obtained via recordings from electrodes at the nasal bridge represent responses from
the olfactory bulb, so-called Electro-Bulbograms (EBG). In this project, we will conduct human subject research
to determine if the recorded putative olfactory bulb signal originates from the olfactory receptors. We will utilize
paradigms that have been shown in humans and other animals to clearly alter olfactory bulb responses, but not
olfactory receptor responses. Moreover, we will determine whether the putative EBG signal originates from the
olfactory bulb or from cortical structures by using paradigms demonstrated to alter signal in the cortex but not
the olfactory bulb. The project will be performed by a team with a documented familiarity with all procedures,
data analyses, and major technical aspects of the proposal. If successful, this innovation would not only enable
explorations of the role fulfilled by the olfactory bulb in the human olfactory system but would also be easily
implemented as an everyday clinical tool. For example, localizing disease-related changes in human central
olfactory processing in neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson’s disease) requires information about
each stage of the olfactory pathway—information that is currently unobtainable. Thus, a technique allowing
measures of human olfactory bulb signals will greatly aid future olfactory-related translational work.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9842866
- **Project number:** 5R21DC016735-02
- **Recipient organization:** MONELL CHEMICAL SENSES CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Johan N Lundstrom
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $193,938
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-01-01 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9842866

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9842866, Non-invasive recording from the human olfactory bulb (5R21DC016735-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9842866. Licensed CC0.

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