TITLE:
Any Sense in Classroom Scents? Aroma of Rosemary Essential Oil Significantly Improves Cognition in Young School Children
AUTHORS:
Mark Moss, Victoria Earl, Lucy Moss, Tom Heffernan
KEYWORDS:
Rosemary, Aroma, Working Memory, Children
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Chemical Engineering and Science,
Vol.7 No.4,
October
30,
2017
ABSTRACT:
The inhalation of the aroma of Rosemary essential oil has been shown to enhance
cognition in healthy adults. In this independent groups design study we
exposed forty schoolchildren aged nine to eleven years to either Rosemary
aroma or no aroma in a classroom setting where they completed standardised
tests of working memory in fifteen minute procedure. Analysis of the data revealed
that performance on the Immediate serial recall, Sentence span, and
Counting span tasks were significantly better in the Rosemary aroma condition
and possessed medium to large effect sizes. This is the first study to
demonstrate such effects in children and suggests that the potential for enhancement
is greater than in adults. The findings are discussed in terms of the
potential for improving academic attainment through natural interventions
and the possible mechanisms behind such effects.