What has your nose got to do with sleep?

Have you ever spritzed your pillow with lavender and wondered, is this actually doing anything?

There are some surprising ways that smells can affect sleep, and it might have something to do with how our brains work.

Norman and Tegan discuss how smells, good and bad, could affect your nightly snooze.

References:

• From antiquity to modern hygiene: the archaeological and medicinal legacy of lavender as a promising antimicrobial agent
• Lavender and sleep: A systematic review of the evidence
• How Smell Affects Your Sleep – Sleep Foundation
• Reciprocal relationships between sleep and smell
• Subjectively intense odor does not affect dream emotions during rapid eye movement sleep
• Nocturnal exposure to a preferred ambient scent does not affect dream emotionality or post-sleep core affect valence in young adults
• Olfactory Aversive Conditioning during Sleep Reduces Cigarette-Smoking Behavior

If you enjoyed this episode, check these out!

• Is farting a sign your gut microbiome is happy?
• Is melatonin the answer to a good night's sleep?
• Is a vibration plate worth the cost?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices