How to have sweet dreams... simply smell the roses



Bloomin' lovely: Women who smelt roses in a study had sweeter dreams than usual

Sweet dreams are made of flowers, according to researchers.

Scientists say tests have shown that sleeping with roses in your bedroom may provoke pleasant dreams.



During a study, the scent of the blooms were pumped under the noses of 15 sleeping women for ten seconds over 30 nights.



The volunteers were then woken up and asked to record their dreams - which proved to be more pleasant than normal.



Further analysis showed that the smells had an affect on the emotions of the dreams but did not become part of the dream as women exposed to roses did not dream about roses.



Similar tests showed that the rancid smell of rotten eggs provoked negative feelings in their dreams.



The majority of the sleeping women who were in the Rapid Eye Movement part of their sleep said the eggs had provoked bad feelings in their dream.



The German researchers said it would be interesting to study nightmare sufferers and suggested a possible treatment of positive smells that could influence the mood of their dreams.

Parenting groups are also interested in the link between teenager's smelly bedrooms and grumpy mood swings.



The average adult dreams for two hours a night, which adds up to around six years during a person's lifetime.



The findings were presented at the 2008 American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting in Chicago yesterday.

