Information on Aromatherapy and Aromachology
Aromatherapy is the usage of essential oils obtained from plants for therapeutic purposes in order to improve one’s physical and psychological health. French chemist called Rene Maurice Gattefosse coined the term in 1928 in order to describe the healing properties of aromatic essences of herbs and plants and the essential oils obtained from them, even though such practice dates back to the times of ancient civilizations. Aromatherapy is strongly integrated with folk medicine, and the essential oils are rarely studied in a scientific manner, because there is no commercial incentive which would justify it. The smell of essential oils is secondary to their medical purpose and their attributes for healing are rather specific. Aromachology is a completely different thing, as it is a scientific approach to explaining the effects of fragrance on the behavior and psychology of human beings. The term was coined by the Sense of Smell Insitute in 1989. The institute is a non-profit educational part of the international industry of fragrance. It deals with controlled scientific studies and it considers both synthetic and natural odorants. The corporate sponsorship drives the aromachology because there are a large number of fragrance applications which can be applied commercially. There is a certain overlapping of the two disciplines, mainly because aromatherapy utilizes inhalation of diffused essential oils in order to prevent and treat various medical conditions such as irritability, lethargy, depression and anxiety. Aromatherapy does not involve the usage of any types of artificial fragrances because they do not have any therapeutic value and they cannot affect the mood that much. Aromachology points out that all the virtues of natural essential oils cannot be supported by any type of clinical or scientific evidence.
The effect of fragrance on emotion
Emotions are greatly affected by fragrances. Odor is often very strongly associated with the way one memorizes things or events and not only that, it also evokes all the emotions commonly affiliated with that particular event. The primary olfactory cortex in the human brain is in charge of processing all information about odors. It is also connected with the amygdala and the hippocampus which are in charge of emotions and memories. These are actually among the most primitive functions of the human body. Both synthetic and natural odorants can trigger certain psychological response, but synthetic substances cannot be used in aromatherapy. The lack of funding is the main problem when it comes to studying the essential oils in a scientific way.
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