There may be more to the saying ‘stop to smell the roses’ — it may help to keep your brain sharp

Can honing your sense of smell keep you mentally sharp as you age? The science suggests it can

Paying more attention to our sense of smell could help improve our olfactory sensitivity and support cognitive function.

Many of us have experienced the sensation of a smell immediately returning us to our childhoods. Freshly-cut grass reminds me of athletics in the back field at school. Enticing aromas from sizzling sausages create mental images of delicious smells wafting up the stairs on Sunday mornings. A turf fire brings me back to summer evenings with cousins in the country.

Recent research, led by the National Institute on Aging and published in Neurology (2023), suggests that a declining ability to detect scents as we age could be linked to conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. However, the good news is that other studies have found that training our sense of smell may delay cognitive decline and might even help reverse some of its effects.