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Researchers from the Karolinska Institute have studied in a new study the impact of our breathing on our memory. The results show that we remember odors better if we breathe through the nose after smelling.
"It has been interesting to know for thousands of years, for example in meditation, that breathing affects us at more than a level of survival, but there is still so little of it. Scientific field studies, says Artin Arshamian, researcher on brain research at the Karolinska Institute.
Remember better
In one experiment, 24 subjects were allowed to smell twelve smells that they were asked to memorize. They were then allowed to breathe for an hour only through the nose or simply through the mouth. Thus, during the time, the memories are processed and stored.
When the hour was past, people were allowed to smell twelve new smells and the last twelve. The task was to determine whether the smell they felt came from the moment of learning or was new.
The results show that people remembered smells better when they breathed through their noses.
Other types of souvenirs
Until now, researchers can only show that we remember best to feel if we breathe through the nose after learning. But it probably also applies to other types of memories.
"A previous study suggested that this could also apply to visual memories, and in our experience, we have tried to produce not only memories of pure odor in the choice of smells," says Artin Arshamian.
The researchers used odors that go and can not be spoken. When the subjects smelled like orange, for example, orange, they did not have to memorize the smell itself, but could also remember the word or image of an orange before perform the task.
"As we could not see any difference between our memory, you felt good and those who could not say that it was likely that the results could also apply to other types of memories" , says Artin Arshamian.
Optimal breathing
Researchers now intend to discover what is really happening in the brain during breathing and its connection to memory. Previously, it was delicate because it was necessary to place the electrodes directly in the brain.
"But we have just developed a new tool that makes things easier, and once we know the mechanisms, we can know how to breathe optimally in different situations," says Arth Arshamian.
The study is published in the scientific journal Journal of Neuroscience.
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