In a multitude of settings, learners utilize any resource available to boost their ability to learn and retain information. Whether it be through repetition, critical thinking, or active recall, most learners are open to try whatever will help them succeed. However, one method that many have likely not considered is to boost their learning through their sense of smell. While there has always been an understanding of the importance of olfaction in memory consolidation, could the idea of using odors while we sleep prove to aid learners in memory consolidation?
In the article, “Scents and Reminiscence: Olfactory Influences on Memory Consolidation in the Sleeping Human Brain” Shanahan and Gottfried analyze previous scientific literature that explored olfactory targeted memory reactivation (TMR). Most notably, they heavily focus their article on the findings from Rasch et al.’s 2007 and 2011 studies. In their 2007 study, the researchers utilized a rose odor, which contained phenylethyl alcohol, and paired this odor to a task where participants learned the locations of pairs of cards. When presented with the rose odor while they slept, participants showed an improvement in recall of the card pair locations in comparison to the control group. In their 2011 study, the researchers performed a second study with a protocol similar to what was done in their 2007 study, however interference was provided during this study in order to determine at what point in the sleep cycle are memories consolidated. They found that during slow-wave sleep not only were the targeted memories from the experimental task stabilized, but they were also fortified from any other interference. These studies provide evidence to the already agreed upon topic that odors can be used to improve memory consolidation.
With an understanding that odor plays a role in memory consolidation, now we can build upon that understanding by implementing strategies that can be applied to the lives of learners. In the article titled, “Using smells to boost learning during sleep” author Tim Newman explores recent scientific literature that highlights ways in which we can apply it in a real-life situation, specifically through academics. The study mentioned in this article took a sample of 54 sixth-grade students from a school in Germany. Findings from this experiment confirmed that students with exposure to rose scent while learning from home and during each night before the test they were assigned demonstrated a significantly better score than participants in the control groups.While this was done through a smaller sample size, this experiment further reinforces the claim that odors, specifically the scent of rose, improves learning and memory consolidation in students.
While there are still unknown factors that may influence the effect that odors have on learning, there is still plenty of research to be done to further solidify this evidence. Future studies can modify odor and sleep related experiments in many ways to better understand this. For example, testing different odors or combinations of odors may have different effects depending on the individual. Another manipulation that could be made to understand the effectiveness that odor has on memory consolidation during sleep could be by testing proximity of the learner from the odor. Perhaps there is a limit to how far away a person should be from this odor while they learn and sleep. With future studies, we may have a universally effective method to improve the performances of learners everywhere.
References
Shanahan, Laura K., and Jay A. Gottfried. “Scents and Reminiscence: Olfactory Influences on Memory Consolidation in the Sleeping Human Brain.” Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory Consolidation, 2017, pp. 335–346., doi:10.1007/978-3-319-45066-7_20.
Newman, T. (2020). Using smells to boost learning during sleep. Retrieved May 05, 2021, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/using-scents-to-boost-learning-during-sleep#Real-world-applications
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