Ep.79, The Hidden Connection Between Smell, Sleep & Neurodegeneration, Dr. Paule Valery Joseph
ASAP Pathway: THE PODCASTShow Notes
What if your sense of smell could predict brain health years before symptoms appear? In this fascinating episode of ASAP Pathway the Podcast, Dr. Stacy Becker sits down with neuroscientist and sensory science expert Dr. Paule Valery Joseph to explore the powerful — and often overlooked — role of smell, taste, and chemesthesis in human health.
From Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease to sleep-disordered breathing, childhood mouth breathing, long COVID, and emotional memory, this conversation uncovers how deeply connected our olfactory system is to neurological health, cognition, metabolism, and quality of life. Dr. Joseph explains why smell loss may be one of the earliest warning signs of neurodegenerative disease, how COVID changed the medical conversation around smell and taste, and why clinicians should begin treating smell as a vital sign.
The discussion also dives into: Mouth breathing and nasal disuse in children Sleep apnea and olfactory dysfunction Smell training and neuroplasticity The emotional power of scent and memory Why dentists may be key players in early detection The hidden consequences of congenital anosmia This episode is a powerful reminder that the body does not function in silos — and that the nose may hold far more information about our health than we ever realized.
Instagram: @dr_paulejoseph X/Twitter: @Dr_Paulevj LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulevjoseph/ Facebook: @DrPVJoseph Threads: @dr_paulejoseph Bluesky: @drpaulejoseph.bsky.social TikTok: @drpaulevj YouTube: @drpaulevaleryjoseph Website: paulejoseph.bio
Chapters 📖 00:00 – Introduction to Dr. Polly Valerie Joseph 02:23 – What Is Chemesthesis? 04:24 – How Smell & Taste Affect Metabolic and Brain Health 07:51 – The Story That Revealed Smell as a Warning Sign 09:18 – Why Doctors Rarely Test Cranial Nerve One 12:14 – When Smell Loss Should Concern You 14:13 – Why Smell Should Be Considered a Vital Sign 16:42 – The Connection Between Smell & Neurodegenerative Disease 20:09 – Early Warning Signs of Smell Dysfunction 22:01 – COVID, Mouth Breathing & Loss of Smell 23:43 – Cognitive Effects of Smell Loss 26:15 – The Importance of Cooking, Flavor & Sensory Engagement 27:20 – Post-COVID Smell Recovery Clinics & Smell Training 28:34 – Olfactory Training and Neuroplasticity 32:10 – Why Most People Would Give Up Their Sense of Smell 33:40 – Smell, Memory & Emotional Connection 35:33 – Mouth Breathing, Kids & Long-Term Brain Development 39:50 – Sleep Apnea, CPAP & Olfactory Function 48:10 – Sleep, Smell & Brain Activity 52:21 – Smell Loss as an Early Sign of Neurodegeneration 55:00 – Questions Dentists Should Start Asking Patients 59:56 – The Body as an Interconnected System 01:02:24 – Dr. Joseph’s Upcoming Book “Common Sense” 01:05:29 – The Smell & Taste Association of North America 01:06:13 – Congenital Anosmia Explained 01:08:06 – Ben & Jerry’s and the Science of Flavor Texture 01:11:54 – Final Thoughts & Future Collaboration
Learnings 📚 Smell is directly connected to the limbic system, linking scent to memory and emotion. Loss of smell may appear 10–15 years before obvious signs of neurodegenerative disease. Smell dysfunction can affect cognition, nutrition, emotional health, and quality of life. COVID highlighted how critical smell and taste are to everyday human functioning. Mouth breathing and poor nasal function in children may have broader neurological implications than previously understood. Sleep-disordered breathing and intermittent hypoxia may impact olfactory processing and brain health. Smell training can help stimulate neuroplasticity and recovery after smell loss. Dentists may play an important role in identifying smell dysfunction during routine evaluations. Congenital anosmia affects more than flavor perception — it may also influence safety, social connection, and emotional processing. The future of healthcare will require more interdisciplinary collaboration between dentistry, neuroscience, sleep medicine, and sensory science.
More from ASAP Pathway: THE PODCAST
What if forward head posture, chronic neck pain, morning headaches—or even the way someone sleeps—isn't simply a musculoskeletal problem? What if the body is compensating because it's trying to breathe? In this episode of the ASAP Pathway Podcast, Dr. Stacy sits down with chiropractor Dr. Kameron Smith to explore the connection between airway health, sleep, posture, pain and chiropractic care.Kameron's interest in airway began while performing Department of Transportation physicals and recognizing how many drivers were at risk for sleep apnea. Then it became personal. Despite being young, fit and not fitting the stereotypical sleep apnea patient, Kameron was experiencing fatigue, morning headaches and concerning nighttime oxygen readings. His own diagnosis changed the way he began looking at his patients—and eventually his own daughter.Together, Dr. Stacy and Kameron discuss how forward head posture, neck tension, mouth breathing and unusual sleep positions may sometimes be clues that the body is compensating to breathe. They also explore pediatric airway screening, craniofacial growth and development, and why simply correcting posture may miss the bigger question:Why is the body compensating in the first place? Most importantly, this conversation is a call for greater collaboration between dentists, chiropractors and other airway-focused providers. Because sometimes the posture isn't the problem. It's the clue.
What if some of the most powerful tools for healing are already inside your own body? In this episode of the ASAP Pathway Podcast, Dr. Stacy sits down with Dr. Matt Bayes, a primary care sports medicine physician, non-surgical orthopedist, and regenerative medicine doctor whose work focuses on orthobiologics—the use of a patient’s own cells to support healing and recovery. Dr. Bayes breaks down PRP (platelet-rich plasma), stem cells, bone marrow aspiration, adipose-derived cells, and ultrasound-guided regenerative procedures in language patients and healthcare providers can understand. He explains how platelets act as important messengers in the body’s healing process, how stem cells participate in tissue repair, and how these therapies may be used for certain ligament, tendon, cartilage, joint, and musculoskeletal injuries. But this conversation is also about knowing when regenerative medicine is—and isn’t—the right answer. Dr. Bayes and Dr. Stacy discuss the importance of diagnosis and case selection, including situations where surgery remains the appropriate treatment. The discussion also bridges medicine and dentistry as Dr. Stacy explores the growing role of regenerative approaches such as PRF in TMJ care and considers how her own experience with regenerative medicine is influencing the direction of her dental practice. And beneath all of it is a wonderfully simple message: Movement is medicine. Curiosity makes us better clinicians. Collaboration improves patient care. And sometimes the best way forward is to work with the healing capacity the body already possesses.
In this episode of the ASAP Pathway Podcast, Dr. Stacy sits down with Dr. Pedro Cuartas, founder of the Collaborative Airway Management Summit (CAMS) and Clinical Director of South Louisiana Dental Sleep Medicine, for a conversation about what may be one of the biggest missing pieces in airway healthcare: collaboration.
In this episode of the ASAP Pathway Podcast, Dr. Stacy sits down with dental sleep medicine expert Crystal May, Vice President of Dental Sleep Medicine at Happy Sleep, for a wide-ranging conversation about why sleep screening needs to become a routine part of healthcare—and why dentistry may be one of the best places to start.
Season Six of the ASAP Pathway Podcast starts with the three ASAP Pathway co-founders together at the table: Drs. Stacy, Tracey, and Michelle—and this one gets personal. What actually happens to women’s sleep when hormones begin changing? Why does obstructive sleep apnea become much more prevalent in women around midlife? Why can women feel exhausted, foggy, anxious, achy, restless and simply say, “I don’t feel like myself anymore”—yet still have a sleep study that doesn’t look particularly alarming? And what do estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, jaw pain, clenching, TMD, airway anatomy and even heart health have to do with one another? The founders dive into the changing conversation around perimenopause and menopause, including why traditional sleep apnea screening may fail to identify many women. They discuss the limitations of relying only on oxygen desaturations and AHI, and explain RERAs—respiratory effort-related arousals—events that may repeatedly fragment sleep without necessarily meeting the traditional definition of apnea.