The older we get, the more we realize that our memories are something that is always going to be slipping away.

So, when science says they might have a way to keep them sharp, we all sit up and listen.

This new study, published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience, states that adults between the ages of 60 and 85 who smell odors while they sleep show dramatically boosted cognitive capacity.

Co-author and University of California Irvine professor Michael Leon expanded on the results in an interview with NPR.

“The idea is that it will keep the memory centers of your brain in good condition throughout life, and perhaps prevent memory loss older in life.”

You’re probably already aware that smell can trigger a memory, or even transport you to a different place and time.

“The olfactory sense has the special privilege of being directly connected to the brain’s memory circuits. However, unlike with vision changes that we treat with glasses and hearing aids for hearing impairment, there has been no intervention for the loss of smell.”

The study involved 43 participants who stated they did not suffer from memory loss, divided into two groups. One received a natural oil diffuser and seven powerful scents – rose, orange, eucalyptus, lemon, peppermint, rosemary, and lavender.

The other group received cartridges that contained little to no scent.

They diffused different cartridges before going to bed over the span of six months. The scents ran for about two hours.

By the end of the study, the group with the powerful scents showed a 226% improvement in cognitive performance. They were evaluated using a word learning test that was backed up by imaging that showed strong functionality in a neural pathway that’s associated with the retrieval of memories.

Scientists have been aware that the loss of olfactory senses is a predictor of dementia and other neurological diseases for awhile; using smell to boost memory in these patients has been studied before.

This study suggesting that the smelling be done while asleep makes the application of such treatment much more feasible.

Next up will surely be a larger sample size, and also experiments with people who have already suffered memory loss, to see whether improvement is possible.

Either way, this is pretty cool news.

Especially for those of us who have passed the halfway mark of life.