While it's already been proven that smells are strongly linked to memory -- like the way a certain scent can take you back to a time or place.

But a new experiment suggests that breathing through your nose while learning something can actually boost your memory because it helps information track more directly to the brain's storage system.

Study author Professor Artin Arshamian, of Sweden's Karolinska Institute, notes, "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."

Smelling something triggers the olfactory bulb, which process scents -- but the olfactory bulb is connected to the brain's hippocampus -- which helps transfer sense and memory information.

Breathing through your mouth shortcuts that path.

"This demonstrates, first, that nasal respiration is important during the critical period where memories are reactivated and strengthened," the professor concluded.

 

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