Olfactory perception in dreams: Analysis of a long dream series

Abstract

The present study analyzed the frequency of olfactory perceptions in a long dream series (N = 11,180 dreams) reported by a single participant. Overall, about 0.30% of the dreams included references to olfactory perceptions with unpleasant odors outweighing positive ones. Moreover, most of the olfactory perceptions are uncommon with regard to typical everyday life. To expand these findings, it would be very interesting to study larger samples using a diary paradigm including explicit questions about type, quality, and commonness of the dream odors.