Nocturnal exposure to a preferred ambient scent does not affect dream emotionality or post-sleep core affect valence in young adults.
Sci Rep
; 14(1): 10369, 2024 05 06.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38710748
ABSTRACT
Emotions experienced within sleep mentation (dreaming) affect mental functioning in waking life. There have been attempts at enhancing dream emotions using olfactory stimulation. Odors readily acquire affective value, but to profoundly influence emotional processing, they should bear personal significance for the perceiver rather than be generally pleasant. The main objective of the present sleep laboratory study was to examine whether prolonged nocturnal exposure to self-selected, preferred ambient room odor while asleep influences emotional aspects of sleep mentation and valence of post-sleep core affect. We asked twenty healthy participants (12 males, mean age 25 ± 4 years) to pick a commercially available scented room diffuser cartridge that most readily evoked positively valenced mental associations. In weekly intervals, the participants attended three sessions. After the adaptation visit, they were administered the odor exposure and odorless control condition in a balanced order. Participants were awakened five minutes into the first rapid eye movement (REM) stage that took place after 230 a.m. and, if they had been dreaming, they were asked to rate their mental sleep experience for pleasantness, emotional charge, and magnitude of positive and negative emotions and also to evaluate their post-sleep core affect valence. With rs < 0.20, no practically or statistically significant differences existed between exposure and control in any outcome measures. We conclude that in young, healthy participants, the practical value of olfactory stimulation with self-selected preferred scents for enhancement of dream emotions and post-sleep core affect valence is very limited.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Sonhos
/
Emoções
/
Odorantes
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
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Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sci Rep
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
República Tcheca