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Updated: Jul 4, 2025

Author Spotlight: Exploring Olfactory Influences on Corticospinal Excitability - Insights and Innovations in Neurological Research
Published on: January 19, 2024
Continuous inhalation of essential oil increases gray matter volume
Keisuke Kokubun1, Kiyotaka Nemoto2, Yoshinori Yamakawa3
1Open Innovation Institute, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan; Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Abstract:
Research into the health benefits of scents is on the rise. However, little is known about the effects of continuous inhalation, such as wearing scents on clothing, on brain structure. Therefore, in this study, an intervention study was conducted on a total of 50 healthy female people, 28 in the intervention group and 22 in the control group, asking them to wear a designated rose scent on their clothes for a month. The effect of continuous inhalation of essential oil on the gray matter of the brain was measured by calculating changes in brain images of participants taken before and after the intervention using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The results showed that the intervention increased the gray matter volume (GMV) of the whole brain and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) subregion. On the other hand, the GMV of the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) did not change. This study is the first to show that continuous scent inhalation changes brain structure.
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