Inhaling Scents Boosts Cognitive Abilities During Sleep

With the rise in dementia and Alzheimer’s cases, utilising strategies that can help protect your mental agility and cognition is a worthwhile pursuit.

A recent study suggests providing hope through a simple and pleasurable strategy using essential oils while you sleep.

• Early research from a small (43 respondents, aged 60–85) randomized control trial found that when cognitively normal individuals were exposed to the scent of an essential oil for 2 hours every night over six months, they experienced a 226% improvement in memory compared with a control group who received only a trace amount of the diffused scent.
• No significant differences were found between the groups in olfactory ability entering the study or at completion.

Olfactory dysfunction is the first symptom of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and is also found in virtually all neurological and psychiatric disorders, the research reports.

• The intervention group was exposed to a single odorant, delivered through a diffuser, for 2 hours a night, rotating through seven pleasant aromas each week.
• They included rose, orange, eucalyptus, lemon, peppermint, rosemary, and lavender.

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) showed that those in the enriched group had improved functioning of the left uncinate fasciculus, an area of the brain linked to memory and cognition, which typically declines with age.

While the research unveils promising possibilities, further studies are crucial to solidify these findings. Understanding the correlation between olfactory impairment and Alzheimer’s disease offers hope for early intervention, potentially altering the trajectory of this challenging condition.

With ongoing advancements, the realm of olfactory diagnostics may play a pivotal role in the future of Alzheimer’s research and treatment. The journey towards effective early detection continues, offering prospects for a brighter outlook in the fight against this complex neurodegenerative disease.

Research

Woo, C., Blake, M., Mithra, S., Farideh, D., Yassa, M., & Michael, L. (2023). Overnight olfactory enrichment using an odorant diffuser improves memory and modifies the uncinate fasciculus in older adults. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 17 DOI=10.3389/fnins.2023.1200448

The olfactory system is the only sense with direct ‘ superhighway’ input to the memory centres areas of the brain, so no real surprise perhaps when people are given olfactory enrichment, their memory areas become larger and more functional. Previous studies have used dancing and music to enhance white matter pathways that decrease with age. Short story – keep the aromatic essential oils flowing, particularly with older clients.

Article submitted by Professor Terry Everitt.

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