Aromatherapy has long been sought after by those looking to use their honker to better themselves, and a new study has found that some scents are the most effective at curing depression.
According to researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, smells can be more effective than words in evoking positive memories, which could be used to aid those suffering from depression, so they can escape negative thought patterns.
The research saw 32 people from the age of 18 to 55 suffering from major depressive disorder be exposed to 12 different scents.
The scents used in the research included ground coffee, coconut oil, ketchup, orange essential oil, Vicks VapoRub, cumin powder, clove bulbs, vanilla extract, red wine, and shoe polish.
Neuroscience would have the subjects smell a vial with the scent and then recall a specific memory, either good or bad.
The lead author of the study, Kymberly Young, shared that depressed people who smelled a familiar scent were more likely to recall a specific memory or event as opposed to a more general memory.
The study highlighted that compared to words, smells evoked memories in patients that felt far more “vivid, immersive, and real.”
“It was surprising to me that nobody thought to look at memory recall in depressed individuals using scent cues before,” Young said in a press release.
The study works by activating the part of the brain called the amygdala, which controls the body’s “fight or flight” response. It also helps us with our memory because the amygdala directs attention to certain events.
Young says that scents likely trigger the amygdala through nerve connections to parts of the body that are tied to the sense of smell.
Researchers say that depressed people have a difficult time recalling specific memories, but the study shows scent can help them remember good memories, just like it does in non-depressed people.
“If we improve memory, we can improve problem-solving, emotion regulation, and other functional problems that depressed individuals often experience,” Young said in the release.