Image: David Lovere / iStockPhoto
Burning incense has accompanied religious ceremonies since ancient times. Its fragrant presence may be more than symbolic, however—a May 20 study in the FASEB journal suggests that a chemical commonly found in incense may elevate mood.
Raphael Mechoulam of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his colleagues injected mice with incensole acetate, a component of the resin of the Boswellia plant. This resin, better known as frankincense, is an ingredient in Middle Eastern incense. The chemical reduced anxiety and depressive symptoms in the mice. In the anxiety test, for example, injected animals were less fearful of open spaces as compared with mice that were given a placebo.
Incensole acetate is a mild drug: the chemical proved to be 10 times less potent than Valium in its reduction of anxiety, Mechoulam says. During religious ceremonies, the people inhaling the most smoke—the officiants burning the incense—are probably the only ones who feel its effects, he adds. Incensole acetate may lead to new treatments for anxiety and depression if more potent forms can be synthesized and if it successfully lifts moods in human trials.
Editor's Note: This story was originally printed with the title "Mass Appeal"
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12 Comments
Add CommentCould those aromatherapy folks be on to something?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCould those aromatherapy folks be on to something after all?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSome of them might. I recently read an article regarding the psychoactive properties of incense as well.. I suppose it makes sense, being as our sense of smell is the most implicit in terms of its ability to induce memories. When you take that into account, and the fact that incense is a pleasant aroma often associated with relaxation or spiritual exploration, it doesn't take a genius to see a connection there. However, I didn't anticipate an injection of the substance in question would have similar results, indicating the chemical constituents contained therein do in fact induce a psychoactive response, as opposed to it being a solely psychological response as I had assumed prior. Who knows, maybe this will lead to the development of a new form of antidepressant or anxiolytic.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is not "aroma" therapy if the mice were INJECTED.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis article is bad science, full of conjecture and "maybe's."
I do believe that this article is more of an "beginners" stage of science, but they could possible be on to something when dealing with the interactions of the mind and brain. I agree that the symbolic part of the incense could help one to relax, IF that person believes in the symbolic part of it. The mice test does seem to prove that there is some sort of property in the incense to literally relax us, but I think for it to be more accrucate is if they literally burned the incense next to them and redo the tests. For now, this seems very interesting, to say the least.... and it's not bad science ^^.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBad science? The article makes no solid claims, only reports "the facts, ma'am". And science is ALL about making hypotheses from observed results. Considering that many drugs that are injected can also produce effects when inhaled, it is actually QUITE possible that incense smoke could produce the same effect as it does when injected. Don't be so hasty to condemn, candide08...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiscandide08
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree with you.
There is an article about Incensole Acetate from May 2008, where researchers found out that the TRPV3 gene in the brain gets stimulated..
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisyeah, it's pretty interesting..
http://www.nextbio.com/b/literature/literature.nb?id=18492727&query=Incensole+acetate
Incence does have a direct correlation with relaxatio.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf we grew up in a religious setting, our brains know the codes and exactly what neurons are fired first by the memory and then by the olfactory nerves.
Why can't this hypothesis be tested?
If you are skeptical test someone who has used incense such as a priest
or any other person who uses it for religious ceremonies
Lorrie18
If insense is a mood elevator it doesn't mean it is a mood enhancer though I don't protest that it can elevate moods since it is used in Religigous ceremonies. For young children attending Catholic Schools I am sure that neural pathways are made and then are re-stimulated when one smells the insense. This links the sense of smell with the memory of a certain Religious ceremony.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCase in point: When I smell insence I often equate it with a funeral.
Since my school was connected to the church we could smell the burning
of it.
But it also brings on a relaxation quality, they use it for meditation. So there must be a connection between relaxation and the burning of insence.
If there is no connection, then why is it used in yoga.
To explain this maybe someone should burn some insence in a church and observe the participants and ask for feedback.
this is a bias article because the mice were injected with the incensole acetate. They should be inhaling it to make the experiment true.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisbut mice can't tell you the effects
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thislorrie18