What does it mean when you smell roses

The fragrance of roses has been praised since ancient times. The poet Yang Wanli of the Southern Song Dynasty wrote, “There is no other national fragrance that can’t be harvested. The poet is smoked into the water.” A fragrance.” The fragrance of roses is not only fragrant in poets’ writings, but has also become the research object of scientists because of its “magical effects”.
Not long ago, researchers from the University of Lübeck in Germany stated in a report that the scent of roses can help us consolidate memories during sleep. So what is the reality?

The connection between rose scent and memory

Speaking of rose fragrance, you may think of perfumes and incense made from roses. The fragrance can make our skin fragrant and fragrant, but how does it “connect” with the human brain to help us enhance our memory? What about?
Zerano, a researcher at Northwestern University in the United States, and Sobel of the Weizmann Institute in Israel discovered that in our brains, the primary processing area for smell can bypass the thalamus, the highest center of sensation, and directly reach more advanced parts of our brains. Higher-order areas include the hippocampus, which is responsible for long-term memory storage.
You can imagine a scene like this: you are walking in a garden in midsummer, and suddenly smell a wisp of rose fragrance. In an instant, the olfactory system converts the fragrance of roses into an odor signal and transmits it to the brain. This signal is not simple. It can obtain a “green pass” in the primary processing area of the brain. With the scent signal of the pass, it can smoothly take a “direct elevator” to the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory. At this time, the scent of roses can serve as a “messenger” to regulate the storage process of long-term memory in the hippocampus.
A foreign study shows that smell is actually an effective memory retrieval cue, and the effectiveness of this clue has nothing to do with the nature of the smell. In other words, not only the scent of roses, but other smells can also serve as retrieval cues to memory. For example, if you are not interested in the smell of roses, but love the sweet smell of chocolate, you can also try to use the smell of chocolate to help you remember.

Memory in sleep

Knowing the relationship between the scent of roses (or other pleasant smells) and memory, we are still faced with another question: What is the relationship between sleep and memory? Do we remember memory processes during sleep?
We know that the human sleep structure cycle is divided into two periods: non-rapid eye movement sleep and rapid eye movement sleep. Among them, non-rapid eye movement sleep is also called slow wave sleep. At this stage, our brain will show synchronized slow waves in the electroencephalogram. During rapid eye movement sleep, we will have dreams; and during slow wave sleep, what kind of activities will occur in our seemingly sleeping brain?
In recent years, researchers have discovered that sleep helps us consolidate newly acquired memories and store them long-term. For example, if you are learning English and reciting English words, of course you will remember these words within 5 minutes after you just recited them, and sleep will help you remember them the next day, or even in future English tests. That said, sleep solidifies your long-term memory.

How to use the scent of flowers to consolidate memories

According to a research report in the magazine “Science”, researchers first invited volunteers to perform a memory task accompanied by the scent of roses one hour before going to bed. Then, during the volunteers’ sleep, they used an MRI machine to monitor the volunteers’ sleep status. Volunteers were observed releasing rose scent in the room as they entered the slow-wave sleep stage. At the same time, there will be another group of volunteers who have not experienced the scent of roses at all as a control to examine the memory of the two groups of volunteers the next day. As the researchers expected, the group of volunteers exposed to the scented environment had better memory results.
Similar to the previously mentioned experiment with osmanthus, rose scent here served as a memory cue. But the difference is that the experiment with osmanthus scent used the scent of osmanthus as a memory retrieval clue, which is like searching for keywords in a knowledge system to find information related to the keywords; in this experiment, the scent of roses became the source of slow-wave sleep. Stage hippocampal memory activation cues select the required content from many short-term memories and store it in long-term memory.
The memory experiment of the scent of roses is like when you are shopping in a supermarket. There are too many products (content that needs to be remembered) and you cannot take them all. At this time, you get a note telling you what you need (the scent of roses), and you follow the instructions. By buying them, the items become yours and can be taken out and used later when you really need them.
Now, I think you have understood that the scent of roses is not the “memory bread” in the Doraemon animation. After eating it, you can “see ten lines and never forget it.” First of all, it requires your own learning and memory, and then the scent of roses, osmanthus and other scents can become a “little helper” to consolidate memory. At the same time, don’t forget the hippocampus of your brain, which is still working hard while you sleep. It stores your memories so that you will not be “uninformed” at critical moments.

The role of roses

Cosmetic

Rose beauty tea is a new generation of beauty tea. It has an obvious effect on eliminating freckles. It also has the characteristics of beautifying, anti-inflammatory and soothing the throat. How to drink: Put 4-5 roses into a cup. The flowers float on the water. The soup is light in color and has an elegant aroma. It is an ideal drink for beauty and health care. Rose tea is mild in nature and suitable for both men and women. It can relieve emotions, balance endocrine, replenish blood and Qi, beautify skin and skin care, regulate the liver and stomach, eliminate fatigue, improve physical fitness, and aid digestion.

Medicinal

The aromatic oil made from rose flowers is a high-grade spice. The flowers are used as medicine to regulate qi and activate blood circulation, soothe the liver and relieve stagnation, and are mainly used to treat liver and stomach qi pain, poor eating and vomiting, irregular menstruation, and injuries caused by iron blows.
As an edible medicine, roses are officially included in the “Food and Herbal Medicine”. Folks often use roses mixed with sugar and drink them with water. They are sweet and delicious, and can promote qi and blood circulation. Drinking roses soaked in wine can relax muscles and activate blood circulation, and can treat joints. pain. Since ancient times, roses have been distilled into rose hydrosol, which has a fragrant smell and remarkable curative effects. “Compendium of Materia Medica” says: “Rose hydrosol is fragrant but light in taste. It can harmonize the blood and calm the liver, nourish the stomach, widen the chest and relieve depression.

Dye use

The parts where the dye is used: branches and leaves. The main components of roses include [tannin], [quercetin], [carotene], [isoquercetin], etc., which have the function of dyeing. Through test dyeing, it was found that it has Nice dyeing effect. When dyed with rose branches and leaves, the color of silk and cotton is quite consistent. Non-mordanted and aluminum, tin, and lime mordant all show a greenish-brown khaki color. Among them, the concentration of lime mordant is higher, while the copper mordant is darker. Yellow brown, iron mordant is dark gray with a slight purple flavor.

The effect of roses

The obvious effects are regulating qi and relieving depression, activating blood circulation, dispersing blood stasis, regulating menstruation and relieving pain. In addition, the medicinal properties of roses are very mild. They can warm and nourish people’s heart, liver and blood vessels, relieve stagnant qi in the body, and have the effects of calming, comforting and anti-depressant. Women often experience emotional irritability before or during menstruation. Drinking some roses can regulate this. Today, when work and life pressures are increasing, even if you are not menstruating, you can drink more roses to soothe and stabilize your mood. It has the functions of promoting qi, activating blood circulation, removing blood stasis, and harmonizing the internal organs.