What is Aromachology?

What is Aromachology

Aromachology is a study that explores the relationship between scents and the emotions they cause in humans.

The study of aromachology examines the effects of various odours on people, especially the emotional changes they bring about. 

Aromatherapy and aromachology must be distinguished from one another. The main goal of aromatherapy is to use essential oils to treat and prevent disease.

Aromachology, on the other hand, concentrates on the psychological benefits of scents.

“Smell is the sense of memory and desire.”

-Jean-Jacques Rousseau-

One way that aromatherapy works is by the application of massages or consumption of natural aromas.

Aromachology utilises synthetic fragrances and perfumes as well as essential oils.

Aromachology basically investigates how our nerve systems react to different fragrances.

 Mount Fuji, Japan

Mount Fuji Japan

In Japan around the turn of the 20th century, aromachology first emerged.

Researchers started examining, deciphering, and even extracting the active components of a plant's inherent scent.

Aromachology was given its own name in the 1970s to distinguish it from aromatherapy.

It therefore began to take shape as a branch that focuses on the investigation of how scents impact our emotions and, consequently, our conduct.

How Does Aromachology Work?

The Limbic System is Essential to Aromachology

Over the past 20 years, a lot of people have researched human sense of smell.

As a result, numerous experiments have revealed the feelings and responses that various scents elicit.

A lot of the research done by professionals in aromachology has focused on how the limbic system interprets various odours.

“Nothing brings to life again a forgotten memory like a fragrance.”

-Christopher Poindexter-

We already know that the limbic system is where emotions and other innate actions, like hunger, thirst, and satiety, are produced.

Instincts are triggered by the limbic system, which the hypothalamus then controls.

Our ability to survive is fundamentally influenced by the limbic system.

It is not controlled by human will, and depending on the stimulus, its response can be very strong.

It is reasonable to conclude that the limbic system is essential to aromachology.

Aromas are carried by tiny particles that enter our bodies through the nostrils.

Our nose is designed to assess the portion of this entering air.

Different aromas are chemically represented by the olfactory receptor cells, which are found in the nasal turbinates.

To translate the chemical information of scents into electric pulses, the olfactory receptor cells use the more than 1000 olfactory receptor proteins they store in their cilia.

The limbic system receives this information, which is subsequently processed in the brain after being evaluated and stored there.

We now understand that fragrances have the power to alter our mood as well as our appetite, focus, and memory, among other things.

Aromachology and Olfactory Memory

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There are two distinct psychological processes that are stimulated by aromas:

Primary Process

It comes from the direct response of our psyche to an aroma.

The scent or odour is the only factor that matters.

The scents or foods that "awaken" our urge for sexual activity are examples of this primary stimulation.

Secondary Process or Olfactory Memory

The secondary process is a result of the olfactory memory-based response to an aroma, which describes the instantaneous recognition of an odour since it has been previously stored in our memory.

This perfume may trigger memories of specific locations, people, or emotions, or we may associate it with a group of senses.

All of the feelings stored in our brain's fragrance programming can be reactivated by our olfactory memory.

When we unexpectedly smell a scent that brings back vivid memories from our childhood (such as images, sounds, feelings, or emotions), this secondary process is an example.

“If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like scent. And it never faded, and it never got stale. And then, when one wanted it, the bottle could be uncorked, and it would be like living the moment all over again.”

-Daphne du Maurier-