Participants with depression were exposed to a variety of aromas, including ground coffee and coconut oil.
Have you ever returned to a cherished moment in your life after smelling a certain scent? It turns out that smells are more effective than words at evoking positive memories and can potentially help people with depression free themselves from negative thought patterns.
A University of Pittsburgh study exposed 32 people ages 18 to 55 with major depressive disorder to 12 aromas in jars, including Vicks VapoRub, ground coffee, coconut oil, cumin powder, red wine, vanilla extract, clove bulbs, shoes. nail polish, orange essential oil and ketchup.
After smelling the vial, the neuroscientists asked the participants to recall a specific memory and whether it was good or bad. The New York Post reported.
The lead author of the study published in Open Jama NetworkKymberly Young said depressed people who smelled a familiar scent were more likely to remember specific memories or events, such as being in a coffee shop a week ago, compared to general memories.
He said smells evoked memories that felt more “vivid, immersive and real” compared to word cues.
“I was surprised that no one had thought of looking at memory recovery in depressed people using olfactory cues before,” Young, who is also an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said in a statement. press.
Young discovered that the amygdala, a part of the brain responsible for controlling the “fight or flight” response, helps memory recall by directing attention to specific events.
Odors activate the amygdala through nerve connections in the olfactory bulb, which is a mass of nervous tissue linked to the sense of smell.
The fact that smell could trigger happy memories in nondepressed people encouraged Young to study smell and memory in depressed people.
Young said improving memory in people with depression could help them heal faster.
