![]() ![]() Roughly 15 million people lost their sense of smell for months at a time, if not permanently, after a COVID-19 infection, Kay wrote in a study last year, perhaps putting them at higher risk for cognitive problems later on. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised the stakes for work like this, Kay said. Stimulating smell matters more now than ever "It looks like there's something there, and that would be cool," Wilson said. Wilson and Kay said they will remain cautious until they see larger studies but are impressed by the findings and excited by their implications. Kay said a "massive" study is needed to confirm the idea that stimulating the brain with odors can boost memory or slow cognitive decline. "No drug has come close to the improvements they've seen," said Leon, who was not involved in that research. "That's another reason to think maybe it could work," he said − slowing brain aging by stimulating it with scents during sleep.Īnother recent study examined older adults with dementia and found that exposing them to 40 different odors twice a day led to a substantial memory boost. Presenting a scent while learning a list of words and again that night during sleep boosts memorization. ![]() But odor delivered during sleep is recognized by the brain, Wilson said. Playing audio in German to a sleeping person, for instance, won't help them learn the language. The brain can't learn new information during sleep. "It's interesting that this (new trial) is affecting verbal learning." "There's some weakness between olfaction and language that we don't really understand," Wilson said. ![]() Most people are terrible at labeling scents ‒ they know something smells good, but they can't say "this scent is a rose," or "this one is cinnamon." That's why most odor tests offer people multiple choice options, he said. Wilson said he was intrigued by the finding that of all the tests Leon and his team tried on the study volunteers, they saw only improvements in verbal memory. Smell is the only sense that has a "direct superhighway into the memory centers of the brain," Leon said, "and consequently has a far greater impact (on memory) than those other senses." In the brain, the system involved in smell is only one or two connections away from brain areas involved in cognition and emotion the systems for sight and hearing are much further from those areas. There's a biological explanation for the link between olfaction and memory, Wilson said. "This is something that takes no effort but is highly effective." Explaining why this might happen "People are really desperate to find something for their memory," Leon said. They also showed differences in brain scans. But the half who were exposed to seven odors two hours a night for four months performed 226% better on a verbal memory test than those whose diffusers had no scent. The study was small, comprising 43 healthy volunteers, ages 60 to 85. "The loss of stimulation may make their brain vulnerable to a wide variety of problems." "We think that pretty much everybody in our modern, affluent world is odor deprived," said Leon, a professor of neurobiology and behavior at the University of California, Irvine. "As you age, your memory walks hand in hand with your ability to smell things," said Michael Leon, who led the new research. And it has long been known that damage to the sense of smell ‒ whether it comes from aging, exposure to toxins, smoking, head injury, menopause or a chronically stuffy nose ‒ can lead to memory loss. "It's an important first step in showing how very simple odor enrichment can influence or at least protect against degeneration," said Leslie Kay, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the study.Ī number of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, schizophrenia and depression, are preceded by a loss of smell. "I would consider it preliminary, but I think it's pretty exciting," said Donald Wilson, a neuroscientist at NYU Langone Health, who was not involved in the research. Older adults exposed to odors while they slept performed better on verbal memory tests and showed improved function in a brain pathway that supports memory formation, according to the study, published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience. But a growing body of research suggests smell is not just essential for perceiving things like food and flowers but also for remembering them.Īnd a new study suggests stimulating the sense of smell can boost memory. Most people think of smell as the least important of their five senses. ![]()
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