Lead author of the study, Professor Boris Stuck and his team from the University Hospital Mannheim looked at the sleep pattern of 15 women for a period of nearly 30 nights.
The study, presented at the 2008 American Academy of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Foundation’s Annual Meeting in Chicago found that smell of roses in the bedroom encourages pleasant dreams whereas the smell of rotten eggs provoked bad feelings in their dream.
When the subjects were in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) phase of sleep, in which dream occurs, researchers pumped certain smells (rotten eggs, roses or no scent) under their noses for 10 seconds before waking them up one minute later. Once the women woke up, they were asked to record their dreams.
The scientists surprisingly found that the smells had an affect on the emotions of the dreams. Females exposed to fragrance of rose had “pleasant emotions” while females exposed to smell of rotten eggs or no smell at all had "negative emotions". But the sleeping women hardly ever dreamed of smelling something.
Dr. Irshaad Ebrahim of The London Sleep Centre said, “This initial research is a step in the direction towards clarifying these questions and may well lead to therapeutic benefits.”
During a full 8 hour night sleep, two hours of it is spent dreaming by an average adult, which adds up to around six years during an individual’s lifetime. The findings could help nightmare sufferers, researchers said.
Another study published earlier this month found that women have far more terrifying and scary dreams than men due to changes in their body temperatures, caused by monthly cycle. Also, the nightmares of females are more emotional.
Other previous studies have shown that women tend to have more disturbed sleep than men. Almost 96% of reported nightmares are dreams occurring in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. In spite of shutting down, the brain actually stays just as active during REM sleep as it is when awake.
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