The findings of the research suggested smell loss, known as anosmia, caused by long Covid is linked to a change

Covid infection, and people who had never tested positive for Covid-19. The findings of the research suggested smell loss, known as anosmia, caused by long Covid is linked to a change in the brain that stops smells from being processed properly. "Persistent loss of smell is just one way long Covid is still impacting people's quality of life - the smell is something we take for granted, but it guides us in lots of ways and is closely tied to our overall well-being.

Our study gives reassurance that, for the majority of people whose sense of smell comes back, there are no permanent changes to brain activity," Dr Jed Wingrove (UCL Department of Medicine) the lead author of the study said.

Researchers say their findings also suggest that the brains of people with long Covid smell loss might be compensating for this lost sense by boosting connections with other sensory regions: their brains had increased activity between the parts of the brain that process smell and areas that process sight (the visual cortex). "This tells us that the neurons that would normally process smell are still there, but they're just working in a different way," another researcher said..