College students spend many nights hunched over textbooks studying for exams but have they tried to use smells as a memory improvement tactic? This topic is especially fitting as Loyola University students enter the last week of the semester, finals week. Last-minute studying leads to a variety of unique study approaches all with the same goal, to retain as much information as possible in the most time-efficient manner. Could specific odor modulation during studying and test-taking be of aid to these students?
Scientific Paper, “Scents and Reminiscence: Olfactory Influences on Memory Consolidation in the Sleeping Human Brain” brings together years of research surrounding how odor manipulation during sleep can lead to memory consolidation. The paper explores how targeted memory reactivation or TMR was used on sleeping individuals to determine whether or not the presence of odor during slow-wave sleep would reactivate the memory of a task previously associated with the smell. The first experiment followed in the paper that jumpstarted this path of research was conducted by Rash. Along with colleges, he was the first to experimentally explore this topic of the connection between odors and memory consolidation in sleeping individuals. In their experimental design, they presented a rose odorant to their participants during a task where they were asked to memorize car locations. The individuals were then placed into two groups one of which was presented with the rose odorant during slow-wave sleep, while the other was not. After the sleeping period, both groups were assessed by their ability to correctly locate the card pairs. Their findings uncovered that odors can enhance the consolidation of memories during sleep but only if the participant had previously made the association of the odor being presented alongside the task. Although Rash was the first to produce data that supported this connection many came after him, pushing the connection even further until eventually more was uncovered about this interaction with memory and olfaction. Together these studies identified that “odors have been shown to enhance declarative memories, quell fear memories, and perhaps even incite creativity”.
Although this paper gives readers relevant insight into the foundation of this interaction, one might wonder, how can this be applied to everyday life? Students might be especially fascinated by this concept as a possible opportunity to improve their study strategies through the implementation of odor association pre-exam and during an exam. "Brainscape" article "Can Certain Smells Improve Learning Efficiency", directly connects odorant modulation to the possibility of improving the memory task of studying. The article explores smells as a possible tool for studying and recollection of information during test-taking. Although they identify the topic as quite interesting they too, just as in the previous rose sent studies, identify that these associations occur unconsciously and an attempt to force the association can often fall short. Although research in the field of producing odors consciously to improve memory tasks is still in the early stages, the article provides a list of essential oils that in some cases have been sown to improve memory retention when used during studying along with during the actual test itself. Some of the essential oils that are mentioned are lemon, eucalyptus, and basil. Although some evidence supports the use of these oils the article does not fail to mention that this can be used as a study "boost" and that foundational study habits need to be strong in order to successfully remember information.
While both articles deal with the influences of olfaction on memory they describe two different modes of improving memory. The "Brainscape" article covers a quite simple approach to this connection by exploring a simple odor-to-task association as a means of memory improvement while the scientific paper describes how this connection can be even deepened and the effects even greater when the odor is reintroduced during slow-wave sleep. This opens up the idea of combining the two articles in generating the question of using essential oils during sleep as a means of test preparation. If a student would use an essential oil in a diffuser during study sessions and then let this diffuser run during their sleep would this improve the chance of them remembering the information better when taking the test? According to the data from the scientific paper, yes this should theoretically improve the memory task of recollecting the studied material. So next time you are studying for a quiz or an exam it might be beneficial to try out this tactic to see if it improves your test performance.
Sources:
Schön, Natasha. “Can Certain Smells Improve Learning Efficiency?” Brainscape Academy, Brainscape Academy, 17 Feb. 2021, www.brainscape.com/academy/smells-essential-oils-for-studying/.
Shanahan, Laura K, and Jay A Gottfried. “Scents and Reminiscence: Olfactory Influences on Memory Consolidation in the Sleeping Human Brain.” 2017, pp. 335–346.
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