Smelling rosemary can help students with exam revision

According to a new study, the smell of rosemary could enhance the memory of students which can help with revising for upcoming exams.

The research conducted by Mark Moss, from Northumbria University, found that pupils working in a room with the aroma of rosemary, in the form of an essential oil, achieved five to seven percent better results in memory tests.

According to Moss, the study supports traditional beliefs about rosemary being associated with memory.

The study, to be presented this week at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society, will back the "received wisdom" that rosemary can assist memory.

In the tests, 40 pupils aged 10 and 11 carried out a number of memory tests in a room filled with the aroma of rosemary.

The students were unaware that they were taking part in a memory test related to smell.

This small-scale test followed up earlier research on adults which had suggested a link between rosemary and memory.

Dr Moss said it confirmed that children, as well as adults, seemed to be influenced.

But he said there was variability in the level of impact and some people did not seem to respond at all.