In a feat that’s not to be sniffed at, researchers have shown that dogs can be trained to detect the signature scent of an epileptic seizure.

It’s the first study to show that a smell of seizure can be detected in people even if they have a variety of seizure-types and their own individual odours, the authors say.

“From the first trial on, they responded to the ‘right’ odour and explored it longer than any of the other odours,” the US and French researchers write in Scientific Reports.

“This clearly demonstrates for the first time that there is indeed a seizure-specific odour across individuals and types of seizures.