Did you ever wonder what part "smells" play in our dreams?

By David McClelland

I have no memory of ever having experienced odors or smells during a dream. I was curious and found the following research that had been done on this subject.

Scientists have known that there is some kind of relationship between our dreams and external stimuli, including smells. They learned that different smells can influence dreams too. A German study tested 15 women while they slept who were exposed to various smells while asleep. Some were exposed to the scent of roses while others with the smell of rotten eggs. A minute after awaking, the women were interviewed about their dreams. The ones exposed to the smell of roses said they had pleasant dreams. The ones exposed to a rotten egg smells said they had correspondingly bad dreams; i.e., stressful dreams or nightmares. Although the smells themselves weren't "in" the dreams, they did influence how the women felt about their dreams.

I wasn't able to find research that concluded that we do experience odors or smells while we dream. What has your dream experience been as they relate to smells?