UC Irvine researchers (left to right) Michael Leon, Cynthia Woo and Michael Yassa participated in the study.

UCI neuroscientists have discovered that when fragrances are wafted through the bedrooms of older adults for two hours every night for six months, memories skyrocketed by 226%. The project was conducted through the UCI Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory and involved seven essential oils: rose, orange, eucalyptus, lemon, peppermint, rosemary and lavender, which were used on a test group of men and women aged 60 to 85 without memory impairment. The team’s study appears in Frontiers in Neuroscience.