Etiket: #BDNF

  Alzheimer’s disease is usually associated with memory loss, but the scientific picture is much broader. Attention, language, mood, behaviour, orientation, decision-making and the ability to manage everyday activities can also be affected as cognitive decline progresses. This is why researchers studying plants such as Rosa damascena are interested in more than a single question about memory. Damask rose has now been investigated from several scientific directions. A small controlled human study examined Rosa damascena extract in people with dementia. Experimental Alzheimer-related studies have investigated learning and long-term memory. More recent research has examined Rosa damascena essential oil in relation to the cholinergic system and BDNF—two areas of considerable interest in neuroscience. Taken together, these studies raise an intriguing question: Why does Rosa damascena continue to appear in research on cognitive decline, and what have scientists actually found? This article looks specifically at Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and cognitive research. For the broader science of rose scent, memory, gray matter and olfactory research,...

What does science tell us about Rosa damascena, rose essential oil, memory, gray matter, and the brain? Could something as simple as the scent of a rose be associated with measurable changes in the brain? It sounds surprising, but scientists have begun asking exactly this kind of question. In recent years, researchers have studied Rosa damascena—the Damask rose famously cultivated in Isparta, Türkiye—and rose essential oil to better understand their possible relationship with the brain, learning, and memory. One recent human study produced a particularly interesting finding: after one month of continuous exposure to a designated rose scent, researchers detected changes in gray matter volume using MRI brain scans. Other studies involving Rosa damascena extract and rose essential oil have explored memory, BDNF, neurogenesis, and the systems nerve cells use to communicate. So, does this mean smelling roses improves your memory? Not yet. The science is promising, but there is an important difference between discovering a change in the brain and proving that something improves memory. Here is what researchers have actually found. 🌹 One Month of...