Breathing through the nose may improve the transfer of experience to long-term memory, according to a study.
The finding, published in the journal JNeurosci, adds to the growing evidence for the influence of respiration on human perception and cognition.
Building on previous research in animals and humans, Artin Arshamian from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and colleagues compared the effects of nose breathing and mouth breathing during a one-hour consolidation period after participants were exposed to various odours.
Nose breathers, whose mouths were taped over during the consolidation period, showed increased odour recognition compared to mouth breathers, whose noses were clipped during consolidation.
Although the study did not measure brain activity, the researchers suggest that nose breathing may facilitate communication between sensory and memory networks as memories are replayed and strengthened during consolidation.
The study provides evidence that, in addition to its effects on memory encoding and retrieval, nasal respiration also supports memory consolidation.