Healthy living
Mind matters
Why scents may strengthen the memory
Your sense of smell can be a useful ally when you’re learning something new
If you want to improve your ability to remember things, then your nose may have a role to play, according to a report published in the journal, Science.
Researchers from the University of Lubeck in Germany have found that odours can enhance memory even as we sleep. This latest study backs up earlier findings that scent and memory are intertwined.
The German team asked a group of 74 volunteers to play a simple memory game, turning over cards to find each one's match. Some of the volunteers played in a room scented with roses. That night, as they slept in the deep stage of sleep, they were exposed again to the scent of roses while an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan monitored their brain activity.
The following day the volunteers were tested on how much they could remember from the memory games of the day before. Those exposed to the scent of roses as they slept remembered 97.2 per cent of the card pairs they had learned compared with only an 86 percent recall rate for volunteers who had not had the odour treatment.
The MRI scans revealed that the part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is associated with learning new things, was stimulated by the scent as the subjects slept.
There is a caveat, however. Odours only seem to be able to work for certain kinds of memories and in the deepest stage of sleep. The researchers reported no memory boost when volunteers were exposed to the rose scent during the lighter dream stage of sleep known as REM sleep. Nor did scent aid memory when the volunteers tried to recall a finger-tapping sequence.
Top tips for remembering things
<li>If you are have a string of numbers to remember, break it down. Remembering chunks is much easier.
- Practice makes perfect. But space out your learning as psychologists have learned that it is better not to learn everything in one go.
- Write it down.
- Associate what you want to remember with an image, the more bizarre the better.
Information on this site is for interest only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult your own doctor about any specific health concerns.
