If you naturally have a great memory, you are a very lucky person. And all because people with poor memory have to resort to a variety of tricks to memorize information. For example, in 2018, Australian scientists and designers developed the Sans Forgetica font, which helps people better remember the text they are reading. Also, some people remember new information by associating them with any objects. But is it possible to store new information in the mind by associating it with all kinds of smells? After all, it would be possible, for example, while studying, to inhale the aroma of certain perfumes and apply them to your clothes during exams. Perhaps in this way it would be possible to quickly recall previously learned information?
Scientists from the German city of Freiburg started looking for an answer to this question. According to the scientific journal Scientific Reports, they conducted a study involving 54 schoolchildren aged 11-12 years. All these children faced a rather difficult task for them - to learn certain words from the English dictionary and remember them a week later during the test. The researchers suggested that they put incense sticks with the scent of roses next to them during preparation for the test and before going to bed. In their opinion, by associating the words read during preparation with this smell, the children could well remember them better. And if the scent was inhaled during sleep, the information could be more fixed in the memory.
How to quickly memorize information?
The children were divided into three groups. Students in the first group put incense sticks on their desks during preparation for the home test and during the test itself. The second group of children inhaled the scent of a rose during home preparation and during sleep for a whole week, and they were forbidden to bring incense sticks to the test itself. The third group of children inhaled flower smells during preparation, during sleep, and even during the test itself.
According to scientists, the scent of flowers helped students memorize English words 30% better than learning without scented sticks. They also emphasized that inhaling the scents used during training further improved brain function as part of the test itself. Scientists explained this by the fact that by associating certain knowledge with different smells, people can literally pull out the necessary information from their memory when they feel the scent again.
Scientists noted that even unpleasant smells help to remember information.
According to study leader Jürgen Kornmeier, it's sudden and surprising that the sense of smell can improve a person's memory so dramatically. Scientists have previously guessed about this, but the assumption has been proven only in laboratory studies. Now it became known that the method of memorizing information by means of association with smells also works in real conditions.
Scientists noted that you can improve your ability to quickly recall certain information using any smell. Thus, information from one school subject can be associated with the scent of flowers, and another - with the scent of some kind of perfume.