Ever had the experience of smelling something, intentionally or otherwise, and all of a sudden you’ve briefly floated back to a very specific memory?
That’s due to the anatomy of the brain 🧠.
Smells enter your nose 👃🏼 (olfactory system) and travel directly to the part of your brain that processes emotions and memories (your limbic system). It’s like the fast-pass lane of a highway; super direct 🚀. The rest of our senses are processed differently and require more stops along the brain highway 🚌.
So not only can smells elicit older memories, but we can also use smells to help us intentionally remember things 💡.
This is where rosemary oil comes in. If you are studying for something or really trying to convert information to your short term memory, smelling rosemary oil while doing so has been shown to help improve that memory!
While I learned this in the book 📖 Healing is Voltage by Jerry Tennant, there have been multiple studies done on the topic, including by the NIH that show even more examples of how this essential oil (among others) could be beneficial to your health.