You know those cute little herb-filled dream pillows that are supposed to enhance your sleep and dream life? I’ve always been skeptical of those. Sure, they smell nice and they’re adorable, but the practical utilitarian in me always wondered “what’s the point?”
Now a recent German study shows that exposure to pleasant or unpleasant smells while sleeping can actually affect the content of our dreams. Using the scents of rotten eggs or roses, in subtle amounts that wouldn’t wake the sleeper, researchers found that dreams were actually negatively or positively affected.
So maybe there is something to dream pillows, or putting aromatic flower petals in your pillowcase. Apparently our senses are more mysterious than the practical woman in me ever imagined.
Image: Mayr