Psychological Science· 2020Q1
The Scent of a Good Night’s Sleep: Olfactory Cues of a Romantic Partner Improve Sleep Efficiency
- 27citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2020year
Short summary
Exposure to a romantic partner's scent increased sleep efficiency by over 2% on average, a finding comparable to the effect of melatonin.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Romantic partner's scent exposure increased sleep efficiency by >2% in 155 participants.
- Sleep efficiency gains occurred irrespective of participants' belief about the scent's origin.
- Perceived sleep quality improved only when participants believed they smelled their partner.
- The observed sleep efficiency increase is comparable in magnitude to melatonin's effect.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Almost nothing is known about whether exposure to the scent of loved ones influences sleep. In the current study, 155 participants spent 2 nights with their partner's scent and 2 nights with a control scent (in random order). Sleep was measured in two ways: sleep efficiency (via actigraphy) and perceived sleep quality (via self-report). Sleep efficiency was higher when participants were exposed to their partner's scent. This increase occurred regardless of participants' beliefs about the origin of the scent. Perceived sleep quality was higher when participants believed that they were smelling their partner's scent. Exposure to a partner's scent led sleep efficiency to increase by more than 2% on average, an improvement similar in magnitude to the effect of melatonin on sleep. The current work speaks to the critical role of olfaction in communication and reveals that social scents can impact sleep.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Psychological Science, 2020 · DOI ↗
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Field: Sensory Systems
Sensory SystemsNeuroscience