This has only been out for 11 years, has your doctor included this in your stroke protocol to help your memory and mood? I'd have to see the actual research details before I believe this is not just placebo or recognition by participants that they got the real thing..
Aromas of rosemary and lavender essential oils differentially affect cognition and mood in healthy adults
Abstract
This
study was designed to assess the olfactory impact of the essential oils
of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and rosemary (Rosmarlnus
officinalis) on cognitive performance and mood in healthy volunteers.
One hundred and forty-four participants were randomly assigned to one of
three independent groups, and subsequently performed the Cognitive Drug
Research (CDR) computerized cognitive assessment battery in a cubicle
containing either one of the two odors or no odor (control). Visual
analogue mood questionnaires were completed prior to exposure to the
odor, and subsequently after completion of the test battery. The
participants were deceived as to the genuine aim of the study until the
completion of testing to prevent expectancy effects from possibly
influencing the data. The outcome variables from the nine tasks that
constitute the CDR core battery feed into six factors that represent
different aspects of cognitive functioning. Analysis of performance
revealed that lavender produced a significant decrement in performance
of working memory, and impaired reaction times for both memory and
attention based tasks compared to controls. In contrast, rosemary
produced a significant enhancement of performance for overall quality of
memory and secondary memory factors, but also produced an impairment of
speed of memory compared to controls. With regard to mood, comparisons
of the change in ratings from baseline to post-test revealed that
following the completion of the cognitive assessment battery, both the
control and lavender groups were significantly less alert than the
rosemary condition; however, the control group was significantly less
content than both rosemary and lavender conditions. These findings
indicate that the olfactory properties of these essential oils can
produce objective effects on cognitive performance, as well as
subjective effects on mood.
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