Herbs for improving memory and mood

by Terry Robson May 5, 2016

Herbs like rosemary, chamomile and lavender have a long term linkage to memory function and anxiety states. Even Peter Rabbit’s mum knew to prescribe him chamomile tea to calm him down. Folklore is one thing, but science is another (not always better, mind you but certainly an other) and in a new study researchers wanted to test exactly how these to herbs as well as chamomile and peppermint would influence mood and memory, especially in older people.

The results showed that peppermint enhanced cognition and aroused mood improving long term memory, working memory, and alertness in the process. By contrast, chamomile had a calming effect and slowed memory and attention speed.

In the first experiment the researchers had subjects consume either a chamomile or peppermint tea drink and they tested their mood and cognition before and after drinking. A control group drank hot water for a comparison. The results showed that peppermint enhanced cognition and aroused mood improving long term memory, working memory, and alertness in the process. By contrast, chamomile had a calming effect and slowed memory and attention speed.

In a second experiment healthy people over the age of 65 were placed in rooms that had been scented with rosemary or lavender essential oils and there was also a control room where there was no scent. In the rooms they undertook tasks that would test their “prospective memory”, which is the ability to remember to do something at a specific time or after receiving a prompt (like remembering to take medication or mail a letter after seeing a letterbox), and they also completed mood assessments. Those in the rosemary scented rooms showed enhanced prospective memory doing an average 15 per cent better than people in the room with no aroma and they were also more alert. Those in the lavender scented room showed increased calmness and contentedness but their prospective memory was slightly impaired.

So depending on whether you want to calm down or pep yourself up, there are herbal solutions at hand.