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Bedroom scent tied to memory

A familiar scent in the bedroom while you get a good night's sleep may help boost memory, says a German study published Friday in the journal Science.

But the study found that the scent-aid only worked for certain kinds of memory and only during one stage of sleep, which means it's not likely to help people seeking a quick memory lift, the Associated Press reported.

The study found that medical students who slept in rooms with a rose scent scored higher on a card memory test than those who weren't exposed to the rose scent - 97 percent vs. 86 percent.

However, the memory improvement only occurred when the students were exposed to the rose scent during a deep stage of sleep called slow-wave sleep. There was no memory boost when the students were exposed to the scent during a lighter sleep phase called REM sleep, the AP reported.

However, the scent was not effective when the students tried a finger-tapping sequence memory test. This is likely because different parts of the brain are involved with different types of memory, the researchers said. – (HealthDayNews)

Read more:
Sleep Centre
Sleep fuels new memories

March 2007

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