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Mental health

Olfactory-Based Cognitive Training May Benefit Individuals at Risk of Dementia

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

A recent study conducted by researchers at the School of Psychology suggests that olfactory-based cognitive training may be beneficial for individuals at risk of dementia. The study, titled "Mind your nose: A randomized controlled trial of olfactory-based memory training for older people with subjective cognitive decline," compared the effects of olfactory-based memory training (OMT) and visually-based memory training (VMT) on older adults with subjective cognitive decline. The study found that OMT led to improvement in trained tasks and transfer gains to untrained memory tasks, suggesting that olfaction may contribute to improved performance on trained and untrained tasks.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study involved 53 participants (17 males, Mage = 72.77) who were randomly assigned to either OMT (n = 36) or VMT (n = 17) for 20 days.
  • Outcomes were evaluated at baseline, post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up using standardized measures of global olfaction and cognition.
  • A significant interaction was found between treatment allocation, time, and modality of memory task at post-intervention and 1-month follow-up.
  • Post-hoc comparisons revealed improvement in trained tasks, including the OMT leading to improvement on the olfactory memory task and VMT leading to improvement on the visual memory task.
  • Transfer gains from OMT to untrained visual memory tasks were observed at post-intervention and 1-month follow-up.
  • The study suggests that olfactory-based cognitive training may be a new frontier for cognitive interventions among those at risk of dementia.

Statistics:

  • 53 participants were enrolled in the study (17 males, Mage = 72.77).
  • 36 participants were assigned to the OMT group.
  • 17 participants were assigned to the VMT group.
  • OMT led to improvement on the olfactory memory task (g = 0.71, p = 0.036) and visual memory task (g = 0.63, p = 0.071) at post-intervention.
  • VMT led to improvement on the visual memory task (g = 1.22, p = 0.011) and olfactory memory task (g = 0.71, p = 0.036) at post-intervention.
  • Transfer gains from OMT to untrained visual memory tasks were observed at post-intervention and 1-month follow-up.

Sources:

  • Mind your nose: A randomized controlled trial of olfactory-based memory training for older people with subjective cognitive decline. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions, 2025,11(3):n/a-n/a.
  • https://doi-org.sdpl.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/trc2.70120
  • NewsRx. School of Psychology Researchers Have Provided New Study Findings on Dementia (Mind your nose: A randomized controlled trial of olfactory-based memory training for older people with subjective cognitive decline). Mental Health Weekly Digest. October 13, 2025; p 1046.

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