Surprisingly, a study of Odor Perception and Processing has given scientists and researchers new insight on degenerative neuro-disorders. While it might seem inconsequential and completely unrelated, smells and odors actually help you to learn, process, and retrieve memories when you are awake and while you sleep deeply.
Smell and Neuro-disorders
When it comes to highly degenerative disorders like schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, and even Parkinson’s disease, one of the first senses to fail is the olfactory system (sense of smell). Based on current research and research that will be performed in the future, scientists hope to develop new types of therapy to alleviate the symptoms of these diseases. Smells will help scientists to enhance their patient’s memory, accuracy, and if all goes well, even combat the effects of the disorders.
Results of The Studies
According to Donald Wilson, a NYU Langone professor from the departments of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Neuroscience and Physiology, the therapy has proven effective in lab tests. He reported his findings and had them published in the Journal of Neuroscience in the beginning of April. The studies, which were conducted on lab rats, resulted in heightened memory retention during deep sleep as compared to results of tests done when they were awake.
The tests involved providing the rats with odors when they were awake and then again when they were asleep. It helped the scientists conclude that doubling the amount of scents provided to one set of rats and giving them the same scent when they did the same test the next day proved more effective than giving a second batch of rats different scents the following day after conditioning them. The latter resulted in confusion.
How Does It Work
By conditioning the rats by providing them with certain smells and using electrodes to stimulate their olfactory bulbs, they managed to alter the subjects’ brain chemistry. After conditioning them and implementing the same stimulation later on, they could test their ability to manipulate the brain chemistry and reactions to solidify memories on demand.
What It Means for Humans
According to Dr. Wilson, the study has some very profound implications for humans. He said that the “findings confirm the importance of brain activity during sleep for both memory strength and accuracy.” He believes that the possibility of using it to alleviate and potentially cure neuro-debilitating diseases including those mentioned earlier. He also hopes that its uses can be extended to education, child-rearing and other fields.