According to Luke Vorstermans, founder of the Sense of Smell Lab, our five senses act as messengers that deliver information to the brain which is process and responded to in predictable ways. “These messages are just information; it’s how we respond that’s important. In all cases, if we change the message being sent, we can change the behavior”. He explains:
Think about your response to these two different messages delivered to our five senses:
- Hearing: opera, hip hop
- Seeing: a sunset, a garbage dump
- Tasting: ice cream, chili peppers
- Touching: tender kiss, a punch
- Smelling: perfume, rotten eggs
With our sense of smell, every odor when broken down to its smallest component is a chemical formula. Chemicals formulas are molecules in specific configurations. When we smell, a chemical formula rises in the nose and lands on thousands of smell receptors which identifies the molecules and forwards the information to the brain. The brain, processing this information, then responds with molecules that are configured in such a way that one recognize them.
According to Vorstermans, the composition of every odor has its corresponding message. “If we change the message, we can change the behavior. In this way, sending specific scent messages is a simple way to help manage moods”.
Scent therapy works by sending scent messages to the brain using your sense of smell. A scent message encourages the brain to respond in a certain way – the smell of coffee is a scent message to the brain that makes you feel like drinking a cup. The smell of burning toast sends a scent message to take action and unplug the toaster. The smell of an exotic perfume sends a scent message to the brain that triggers feelings of sensuality.
By infusing specific sent messages into a small patch that is inhaled frequently through the day, Scent Therapy “teaches” the brain to respond in a specific way to the scent message being delivered. The scent receptors identifies the incoming information which it then associates with a certain feeling, just like baking bread evokes a feeling of hunger.
Scent Therapy uses molecularly engineered scents blended with essential oils to modify and influence behavior. These engineered scents are designed to assist with managing a wide variety of moods that control food cravings, alleviate stress, and promote feelings of relaxation.
Much like motivational posters or tapes that our sense of sight or hearing to encourage a change in behavior, scent messages also ‘reinforce’ the behavior connected to the scent. For example, smelling Scent Therapy’s Scentuelle patch ‘teaches’ the brain that this scent message triggers feelings of relaxation and sexuality. Once memorized, each time the patch is smelled the response becomes more immediate and the mood state is activated quicker.
This process is constantly at work with your sense of smell. If you smell coffee it triggers a brain response and feeling. Whether or not you go and have a cup is a conscious decision you make. In other words, the smell of coffee doesn’t force you to drink coffee, but rather triggers a memory of what the smell of coffee means to you from previous experience. Once the smell receptors understand the incoming scent message, the response is intuitive.
“Scent message are precisely engineered to influence behavior. They work with the natural sensory system of the body of scent identification and response. The ingredients of a scent message do not enter the brain; it is ‘dropped’ on the smell receptor that identifies it and in turn delivers the message to the brain. No chemicals of any sort enter the brain, hence we have engineered-out the possibility of side effect. There can be no side effects, only the message”, he explains.
Scent Therapy is an exciting new technology that gives individuals personal control over enhancing moods and influencing behavior.
Source: https://www.thesoslab.com
