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Emotional body odors can enhance the effects of mindfulness therapy
Last reviewed: 03.07.2025
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Emotional body odors may enhance the anxiety-reducing effects of mindfulness practice.
This claim is made in a pilot study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders by researchers from the Karolinska Institutet.
Key findings of the study:
Body Odors as a Form of Social Communication:
Body odors, such as sweat, contain chemical signals (chemosignals) that are linked to a person’s emotional state. Research shows that when exposed to chemosignals associated with certain emotions (such as fear or happiness), people may unconsciously exhibit similar states.Purpose of the study:
The main purpose was to investigate the potential benefits of chemosignals for people with psychiatric symptoms such as social anxiety or depression. The researchers wanted to test whether emotional body odors could enhance the effects of mindfulness-based therapy.
Study design:
- Participants: 48 women with social anxiety symptoms and 30 women with depression.
- Groups: Participants were divided into three groups where they were exposed to:
- Body odors associated with happiness.
- Body odors associated with fear.
- Clean air.
- Methods:
Participants performed mindfulness exercises (breathing, meditation, and relaxation techniques) for two days. During these exercises, a corresponding odor was introduced to the group. - Measurements:
Anxiety and depression were assessed before and after each session. Physiological indicators of stress, such as heart rate variability and skin conductance, were also measured.
Research results:
Reduced anxiety:
- Participants exposed to the scents of happiness and fear experienced significant reductions in anxiety symptoms compared to the group breathing clean air.
- The effect of mindfulness practice was enhanced by exposure to chemosignals.
Physiological changes:
- Fear odors caused a decrease in heart rate variability, indicating a less relaxed physiological state. However, this was not reflected in subjective anxiety ratings.
- There were no significant differences in skin conductance values between groups.
No effect for depression:
In women with depressive symptoms, there was no significant difference between exposure to body odors and clean air. However, the sample size was small, so the results require further study.
Conclusion:
Potential applications:
Research suggests that body odors could be used to enhance the effectiveness of psychological therapies aimed at reducing anxiety.Need for further research:
The results are preliminary and require verification in larger studies. It is also important to study the mechanisms by which chemosignals enhance the effect of mindfulness.
If the findings are confirmed, the use of body odors could open up new possibilities for improving psychological therapies.