Aromatherapy Science: The Facts and Research on Scent

The Scientific Evidence on Aromatherapy and Mood

Aromatherapy science is a recently created field, with some startling information to share. For many years, practitioners of holistic aromatherapy have claimed that scents and aromas can be used to reduce stress and promote relaxation. However, it is only recently that scientific professionals have started to take a critical, logical approach to proving and debunking the claims of aromatherapy practitioners. Aromatherapy science takes "common wisdom" about smell and mood regulation and takes it into the laboratory, where it can be rigorously tested, and the results have surprised many members of the scientific community.

Aromatherapy science has shown that aromatherapy can strongly and quickly effect mood and behavior. Researchers recently discovered that the introduction of natural scents like lavender and vanilla can significantly reduce anxiety and distress in at least some scenarios. These positive outcomes in aromatherapy science may spell great news for people who are looking for an affordable, easy way to relax both in crisis situations and in everyday life.

The Facts
Under laboratory conditions, mice have been proven to undergo behavioral changes after exposure to certain airborne scents. After having aromatic blasts of lavender and sandalwood oil introduced into their cages, hyper-excited mice appeared calmer. The implications of these kinds of animal studies for human users are yet to be determined, but preliminary aromatherapy science research suggests that certain holistic aromatherapy practices may have verifiable benefits in terms of mood regulation and stress reduction.

The strongest evidence aromatherapy science has produced in favor of the stress reducing effects of smell was in a recent study on anxiety in hospital patients. In a study conducted at Manhattan's Sloan-Kettering Hospital, the scent of vanilla was shown to help reduce stress related to claustrophobia 63% during MRI scans. This is a dramatic statistic, and has helped raise interest in aromatherapy science in the larger academic community.