Can Lavender Help Solve Math Problems?

Some websites state lavender can reduce anxiety and emotional stress, heal burns and wounds, improve sleep, restore skin complexion and reduce acne, can slow aging, remove eczema and psoriasis, and alleviate headaches.[1]  We would caution out readers about any claims of the “healing” benefits of lavender on the internet as they are often involved in sales. If you look up lavender on Wikipedia, they caution pregnant or breast-feeding woman about the use of lavender because of the lack of knowledge off its effects. They also caution young boys about the use of lavender because of the possible hormonal effects that can lead to gynecomastia. [2] Historically, lavender has been used to repel insects.

Something we found interesting was a study suggesting lavender can help solve math problems. In this study, 40 adults were given simple math computations before and after a 3-minute aromatherapy session using lavender. They were shown to have increased beta waves – the waking consciousness and the logical and critical reasoning wave – which suggests increased drowsiness and increased critical reasoning. They performed the math computations faster and more accurately following the 3-minute aromatherapy session.[3]

[1] Axe , D. (n.d.). 7 Lavender Oil Benefits for Healing . Retrieved March 29, 2017, from https://draxe.com/lavender-oil-benefits/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavandula

[3] Diego , M. A., Jones, N. A., Fields, T., Hernandez-reif, M., S. S., C. K., . . . R. G. (1998). Aromatherapy Positively Affects Mood, Eeg Patterns of Alertness and Math Computations [Abstract]. International Journal of Neuroscience , 98(3-4). Retrieved November 07, 2016, from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3109/00207459808986469?needAccess=true