Smelling This One Specific Scent Can Boost the Brain's Gray Matter (sciencealert.com) 42
"According to a new study, wearing the right kind of perfume or cologne can enlarge your brain's gray matter," writes ScienceAlert
Researchers from Kyoto University and the University of Tsukuba in Japan asked 28 women to wear a specific rose scent oil on their clothing for a month, with another 22 volunteers enlisted as controls who put on plain water instead. Magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI) scans showed boosts in the gray matter volume of the rose scent participants.
While an increase in brain volume doesn't necessarily translate into more thinking power, the findings could have implications for neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia. "This study is the first to show that continuous scent inhalation changes brain structure," write the researchers in their published paper. We've seen scents like this improve memory and cognitive performance, but here the team wanted to try a longer-term experiment to see how triggering our sense of smell might lead to measurable changes in brain structure...
It's difficult to pin down exactly what's causing this boost in gray matter. Another possibility raised by the researchers is that the rose scent is actually labeled as unpleasant by the brain, with the subsequent emotional regulation responsible for the PCC working harder and increasing in size. The researchers hope that the findings could be useful in the development of aromatherapies that boost mental health and brain plasticity...
The research was published in the Brain Research Bulletin.
While an increase in brain volume doesn't necessarily translate into more thinking power, the findings could have implications for neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia. "This study is the first to show that continuous scent inhalation changes brain structure," write the researchers in their published paper. We've seen scents like this improve memory and cognitive performance, but here the team wanted to try a longer-term experiment to see how triggering our sense of smell might lead to measurable changes in brain structure...
It's difficult to pin down exactly what's causing this boost in gray matter. Another possibility raised by the researchers is that the rose scent is actually labeled as unpleasant by the brain, with the subsequent emotional regulation responsible for the PCC working harder and increasing in size. The researchers hope that the findings could be useful in the development of aromatherapies that boost mental health and brain plasticity...
The research was published in the Brain Research Bulletin.
right (Score:3)
I'll be waiting for someone to replicate this nonsense.
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Yawn. Get a life.
The experiment as described... (Score:5, Insightful)
This isn't science. This is a scam.
The supply chain for this article, all the way back to the study itself, is entirely fraudulent.
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Agreed, instead of "Smelling this one specific scent ..." this should be described as "smelling a scent ..." , although even that might be misleading.
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Re:The experiment as described... (Score:5, Informative)
Can you explain what's the fraud in your view? They are testing the effect of clothing scent onto brain structure (as per the second line of the abstract). They found the presence of scent influences the brain. This is an interesting result.
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They can't make the more general claim, because they only tested one scent. The summary also didn't say which gray matter increased, perhaps it was the olfactory cortex.
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It did.
It is entertaining to see this new fashion of proclaiming "it's a scam!!" while demonstrating poor reading comprehension and not actually reading anything but a hastily copy and pasted excerpt of an article written by an amateur.
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The article may have, but the summary did not. I just checked again to be sure. "Gray matter" is too vague a term to tie it to specific functions.
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Anyway, reading a summary of a summary and claiming
is dumb as a rock.
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I came here to say the same thing. Perhaps any pleasurable scent would yield positive benefits. Maybe that is the key. That means it could be highly personal to anyone.
Allergy? (Score:3)
Brain matter got bigger, aka as "Inflammation".
You what something to get bigger? Have a bee sting that part of your body. It doesn't make skin tougher, muscle stronger, or brains smarter.
Intelligence is caused by greater CONNECTIONS, not by increases in size. It's how many folds your grey matter has that matters, not how big it is.
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You gave me a great idea for a study. Can subjects be convinced to dress up like flowers and get stung by bees?
Unfortunately it looks like "bee sting therapy" is not a new idea.
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Can subjects be convinced to dress up like flowers and get stung by bees?
Bees don't sting flowers.
Keep trying, an idea will happen to you eventually!
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Nice study (Score:2)
That must be the easiest nomination for the Ignoble Piece Price there ever was. Or the Ignobel Peace Prize, I'm getting confused these days.
Turbo mode. (Score:2)
"This study is the first to show that continuous scent inhalation changes brain structure,"
* shoves rose pedals into bong *
”Dude, where’d you get the rose pedals?”
”Mom’s garden. Don’t worry bro. Once I smoke this I’ll be able to out-smart her yelling.”
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* shoves rose pedals into bong *
Petals, you ignoramus. Maybe you're past due to leave the bong alone.
Pedals are found on bicycles. Petals are found on flowers.
Shakespeare... (Score:2)
Shakespeare was on to something...from his play Romeo and Juliet, spoken by Juliet Capulet (Act 2, Scene 2) to herself whilst on her balcony, The line...
That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
https://www.shakespeare.org.uk... [shakespeare.org.uk]
Or maybe Bill and Ted had a better idea...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
JoshK.
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Quite. And very true! :)
Although surprising, as the carnation is the flower of Japan.
Perhaps a rose by another name as the national flower of the United States? :) The zero-room in the TARDIS from Doctor Who always had the smell of roses. Maybe this is the reason...the Doctor never knew why. ??? :-)
JoshK.
Double-blind study (Score:2)
Obviously nobody can differentiate between water a perfume.
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They could have used any stinky stuff but water.
Rose Oil Toxic (Score:2, Interesting)
What this actually demonstrates is that rose oil might be toxic, or people are otherwise allergic to it and exposure causes brain swelling.
I wonder if that has anything to do with why I have always found rose scents to be repugnant?
Brain swelling bad. Avoid rose scents.
Intriguing possibilities (Score:2)
"Another possibility raised by the researchers is that the rose scent is actually labeled as unpleasant by the brain, with the subsequent emotional regulation responsible for the PCC working harder and increasing in size."
If that's the case, then the worse the odor, the bigger the brain. Imagine the range of nootropics and smart pills that could be created!
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Brain Surgeons Hate This One Simple Trick (Score:2)
a specific rose scent oil (Score:2)
I'd rather they tried PlayDoh scent, as I really like that!
This one weird trick. (Score:2)
I remember when old ladies used to absolutely reek of rose oil.
The Axe Effect (Score:1)
I wonder if it has to be roses or if this would also happen with Axe body spray.
Slashdot quo vadis (Score:2)
Can it get more clickbaity than: Smelling This One Specific Scent Can Boost the Brain's Gray Matter