Artin Arshamian

Artin Arshamian

Principal Researcher | Docent
Visiting address: Nobels väg 9, 17177 Stockholm
Postal address: K8 Klinisk neurovetenskap, K8 Psykologi Lundström Arshamian, 171 77 Stockholm

About me

  • As the Principal Investigator of the Embodied Perception and Cognition group, my research focuses on two main areas: understanding the mechanisms that shape the olfactory system and exploring how breathing influences perception and cognition. We employ state-of-the-art methodologies from a wide range of disciplines, including psychology, neuroscience, material science, anthropology, and linguistics.

    A key strength of our research lies in our collaborations with diverse groups, allowing us to study previously inaccessible areas. For instance, through partnerships with field researchers, we investigate the commonalities and differences in human olfaction across various populations, from urban dwellers to hunter-gatherer communities around the world. We also conduct direct comparisons between our neural and behavioral findings in humans and animal models such as rodents.

    A significant part of our work involves developing new electrophysiological brain imaging techniques, which enable us to study previously inaccessible areas of the olfactory and respiratory systems. For example, we investigate how breathing, odor perception, and cognition are encoded in the olfactory bulb and piriform cortex, as well as how these processes influence peripheral functions like pupil response.

    Our advanced tools and interdisciplinary approach allow us to address emerging questions about the sense of smell in both health and disease, with a particular focus on conditions such as anosmia and Parkinson's disease.

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2022 - 31 December 2024
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 December 2021 - 30 November 2025
    More than half of all individuals with confirmed COVID-19 experience smell dysfunctions at some point during the disease. Critically, recent data show that for individuals who had mild to medium acute COVID symptoms, a reduced or distorted sense of smell is the most prevalent symptom (34%) eight months after serologically confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, few treatments exist for smell dysfunction, an affliction associated with a range of negative long-term health outcomes. A transdisciplinary research team including primary and secondary care clinics as well as basic scientists will in the proposed project address two overarching aims. First, we will determine the prevalence, symptomatology, and pathogenesis of post-COVID olfactory dysfunctions in a serologically highly controlled longitudinal cohort study. Second, we will assess the efficacy of three novel therapeutic treatments for two common post-COVID olfactory dysfunctions, hyposmia and parosmia. These online treatments are scalable and easily implemented in the primary care system at little cost for both patients and the health care system. If successful, the treatment for hyposmia will help many individuals regain their sense of smell. Likewise, the treatment for parosmia, which will be the first and only treatment available, will provide individuals with medium to severe parosmia some potential refuge from the often debilitating difficulty they experience when eating and interacting with odors in their life.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 December 2018 - 31 December 2020
  • Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation
    1 January 2015 - 31 December 2020

Employments

  • Principal Researcher, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Centre for Language Studies, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, 2014-2018

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2024

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