Essential Oils for Memory Improvement and Alzheimer's Disease

Do you sometimes feel forgetful or absentminded? Consider using essential oils for memory enhancement. Research suggests spicy essential oils may increase the production of beta waves, which the brain produces when it's alert and active.

Recommended essential oils for memory include:

• Basil
• Black pepper
• Cistus
• Cypress
• Frankincense
• Ginger
• Lemon
• Peppermint
• Rosemary

 Use the oils as needed:

• Diffuse for 15 minutes every 2 hours.
• Inhale directly 2 to 4 times a day using an aromatherapy inhaler.
• Apply 1 to 2 drops of an oil (diluted as desired) on your temples and/or back of your neck.

Skip to information about Alzheimer's disease.

Essential Oils for Memory Blends

Most of these blends include rosemary because it's one of the most recommended essential oils for memory recall. To use a blend:

• Diffuse in an aromatherapy diffuser according to your diffuser's instructions.
• Put 2 or 3 drops on a tissue or handkerchief or 5 to 10 drops in an aromatherapy inhaler and sniff periodically throughout the day.
• Dilute with carrier oil for a massage.

Essential Oil Blend #1

• 10 drops lemon essential oil
  
• 5 drop rosemary essential oil
• 3 drops sage essential oil
• 1 drop cinnamon essential oil

Source: Essential Oils & Aromatherapy for Dummies

Blend #2

• 10 drops rosemary essential oil
• 5 drops basil essential oil
• 2 drops peppermint essential oil
• 4 drops helichrysum essential oil

Source: Essential Oils Desk Reference

Blend #3

• 10 drops black pepper essential oil
• 5 drops frankincense essential oil
• 10 drops cypress essential oil

Source: The Fragrant Mind

Blend #4

• 2 drops rosemary essential oil
• 2 drops peppermint essential oil
• 1 drop lemon essential oil

Source: Massage & Aromatherapy: Simple Techniques to Use at Home

Blend #5

• 2 drops rosemary
• 2 drops sweet orange
• 3 drops cardamom

Source: Aromahead 

Blend #6

• 5 drops lemon essential oil
• 3 drops rosemary essential oil
• 1 drop sweet basil essential oil
• 1 drop lavender essential oil

Source: Valerie Cooksley, RN, OCN, FAAIM, CERT, NAHA Aromatherapy Journal, Autumn 2016.3, p. 74

Blend #7

• 3 drops peppermint
• 2 drops frankincense
• 1 drop melissa

Source: Essential Oils for Emotional Wellbeing

Stock Blend

To make a stock blend for inhaler or diffuser use, add the following essential oils to a 5-ml glass dropper bottle:

• 30 drops rosemary
• 30 drops basil
• 18 drops lemon
• 18 drops black pepper

Source: 150 Ways to Use Essential Oils

Aromatherapy for Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia

Can essential oils and aromatherapy for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia be helpful? Research seems to indicate yes.

Dementia is a decline in memory and thinking that impairs a person's ability to function in daily life. Alzheimer's disease is the most common, but not the only form of dementia, and affects half of people over the age of 85, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The study, Effect of aromatherapy on patients with Alzheimer's disease, found that aromatherapy is an effective non-drug therapy for dementia. The study used lemon and rosemary essential oils in the morning and orange and lavender in the evening for 28 days. All patients had significant improvement in personal orientation related to cognitive function. The authors concluded that aromatherapy may potentially improve cognitive function, especially in people with Alzheimer's disease. 

Essential oils that may stimulate the brain include:

• Cedarwood
• Frankincense
• German chamomile
• Ginger
• Myrrh
• Nutmeg
• Patchouli
• Sandalwood
• Spikenard

For more advice about using essential oils for the elderly in general and for dementia in particular, I recommend the chapter on "Care of the elderly, with particular reference to dementia" in Shirley Price's Aromatherapy for Health Professionals.

Other studies:

• On alternate days, researchers diffused lavender essential oil or a placebo (water). The aromatherapy decreased agitated behavior significantly. Source: Lavender oil as a treatment for agitated behaviour in severe dementia.


• Aromatherapy massage using lavender significantly reduced how often patients exhibited excessive motor behaviour. Aromatherapy massage was more effective than either aromatherapy or massage alone. Source: Aromatherapy and behaviour disturbances in dementia.


• Researchers applied a cream containing lavender, marjoram, patchouli, and vetivert to the bodies of 36 patients, comparing the cream with an inert oil used on other patients. The patients receiving the essential oil blend showed a significantly mental state but also became more resistant to care (researchers speculated because of increased alertness). Source: Effects of essential oils and touch on resistance to nursing care procedures and other dementia-related behaviours.


• Researchers applied lemon balm (melissa) lotion to some patients and applied sunflower oil to other patients. The patients receiving melissa were significantly less agitated and social withdrawn and also participated more in constructive activities. Source: Aromatherapy as a safe and effective treatment for the management of agitation in severe dementia.

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