- Subjects exposed to smells were better at recalling them with mouths taped up
- Experts say inhaling through the nose enhances cognition and memory recall
- Smells trigger the olfactory bulb which is connected to the brain’s hippocampus
- Hippocampal rhythms are implicated in the transfer of sense and memory data
Breathing through your nose boosts your memory, according to new research.
It improves the transfer of the events we experience in our daily lives to our long-term memory bank, say scientists.
In the study, participants exposed to certain odours were better at recalling them if their mouths had been taped over.
The findings add to a growing body of evidence that inhaling through the nose rather than the mouth enhances cognition.
Intriguingly, recent studies have also suggested a fading sense of smell is one of the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
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Breathing through your nose boosts your memory, according to new research. It improves the transfer of the events we experience in our daily lives to our long-term memory bank, say scientists (stock image)
Professor Artin Arshamian, of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said: ‘Memories pass through three main stages in their development – encoding, consolidation, and retrieval.
‘Breathing through the nose compared to the mouth during consolidation enhances recognition memory.
‘This demonstrates, first, that nasal respiration is important during the critical period where memories are reactivated and strengthened.
‘Second, it suggests the neural mechanisms responsible may emerge from nasal respiration.’