For years, I have talked about Flower Energy and my belief that flowers can change the way we feel, experience a room, connect with memories, and interact with one another.

Now there is fascinating scientific research looking at something even deeper: what repeated exposure to the scent of roses may do inside the brain.

A 2024 study published in Brain Research Bulletin by researchers Keisuke Kokubun, Kiyotaka Nemoto and Yoshinori Yamakawa examined whether continuously inhaling rose essential oil could be associated with measurable changes in brain structure. (PubMed)

The Rose Study

Researchers studied 50 healthy women. Twenty-eight participants were in the rose-scent intervention group and 22 were in the control group.

For one month, the intervention group wore a designated rose scent on their clothing. Researchers used MRI brain imaging before and after the intervention to measure changes in gray matter volume. (PubMed)

The results were remarkable.

After one month, researchers reported an increase in whole-brain gray matter volume in the intervention group, with a significant change identified in a region called the posterior cingulate cortex, or PCC. The researchers did not find significant gray-matter changes in the amygdala or orbitofrontal cortex. (PubMed)

What Does This Actually Mean?

This is where I think it is important to celebrate the research without exaggerating it.

The study showed a measurable change in brain structure associated with continuous exposure to rose scent. It did not prove that smelling roses improves memory, prevents dementia, makes someone smarter, or treats a neurological or psychological condition.

It was also a relatively small study involving only women, so much more research is needed.

But what it does give us is an extraordinary new question to explore:

What if our relationship with flowers reaches further into our biology than we previously understood?

Why the Posterior Cingulate Cortex Is Interesting

The posterior cingulate cortex is involved in complex brain processes and has been studied in connection with memory, internally directed thought and the processing of meaningful information.

The researchers themselves discuss the PCC’s relationship with olfactory processing and scent-associated memory. (VedAroma)

Think about how quickly a scent can transport you somewhere.

Your grandmother’s garden.

Your wedding bouquet.

A rose perfume someone you loved used to wear.

Flowers at your childhood home.

A single scent can unlock an entire room in your memory before you’ve consciously figured out why.

That relationship between flowers, fragrance, memory and emotion has fascinated me throughout my career.

The Science of Flower Energy Is Just Beginning

I have spent decades working with flowers, and roses have always held a particularly powerful place in my philosophy of Flower Energy.

When I talk about the “energy” of a flower, I am talking about the experience we have around it: its color, fragrance, texture, symbolism, memories and the emotional response it can create.

Science and spirituality don’t always use the same vocabulary. But every so often, research opens a little window where the two conversations can sit beside each other.

This study feels like one of those windows.

It doesn’t prove everything we may feel intuitively about flowers. But it gives scientists another reason to investigate how something seemingly simple, the scent of a rose, interacts with the human brain.

And I find that incredibly exciting.

Maybe “Stop and Smell the Roses” Was Better Advice Than We Realized

Flowers aren’t simply decorations to me.

They engage our senses. They mark our greatest celebrations and our deepest losses. They become attached to people, places and memories. They can completely change the feeling of a room.

And now researchers are beginning to investigate whether sustained exposure to floral scent may even be associated with physical changes within the brain.

So buy the roses.

Put them beside your bed.

Grow them in your garden.

Walk through the flower market.

Close your eyes and actually smell them.

We still have much to learn about flowers and the human brain, but perhaps the old expression “stop and smell the roses” contains more wisdom than anyone realized.

The Research

The study, “Continuous inhalation of essential oil increases gray matter volume,” was published in Brain Research Bulletin, Volume 208, in 2024.

Authors: Keisuke Kokubun, Kiyotaka Nemoto and Yoshinori Yamakawa. DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2024.110896. (PubMed)

Read the study on PubMed

Jenny Barker, The Flower Doctor
Author of Flower Energy: Channeling the Healing Power of Blooms

This article discusses emerging scientific research for educational purposes and should not be interpreted as medical advice.