Essential Oils for Cognitive Support During Sleep
As the world’s population trends towards aging, finding natural methods of cognitive support is becoming increasingly important. We all know that staying active, both physically and mentally, has a positive impact on cognitive health. This blog post is not about that.
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What IS in the Post:
Essential Oils for Cognitive Health & Enrichment
What I want to share today is a way to passively enrich cognitive health using aromatherapy during sleep.
A recent Olfactory Enrichment Study at University of California Irvine found that diffusing essential oils during sleep helps improve cognitive function. Over a 6-month period, participants diffused essential oils every night for two hours as they fell asleep. The test subjects showed a 226% improvement in cognitive functioning over control subjects!(1)
Do You Need Cognitive Support?
In 2022 in the United States, the median age was 38.9 years. (The median is the point in a string of numbers that is the exact middle—50% are smaller, or in this case younger, and 50% are larger, in this case older.) This median age is up 0.2 years, or 2.4 months, over 2021.(2)
Let’s look at it another way. In 2022, the US had:
- 68.59 million Baby Boomers
- 65.37 million Gen X-ers, and
- 72.24 million Millennials.(3)
These 206.2 million people range in age from 42 up to 77 years old. On September 16, 2023 the population of the United States was 335.4 million.(4) This means that roughly 61% of the population is over 42 years old.
Why is the Population Aging?
Here’s a comparison for you. In 1923, the average life expectancy in the US was 57.2 years. In 2023, the average life expectancy in the US is 79.11 years. That means a lot more people are living longer. This makes it that much more important to enrich our lives in multiple ways on a daily basis.
So Why Does This Mean You Need Cognitive Support?
It’s long been thought that cognitive health decline doesn’t start until about age 60. However, the results of a recently concluded 10-year study indicate that cognitive decline may occur as early as 45 years! The researchers found that all age groups exhibited cognitive decline in reasoning, memory, and verbal fluency (phonemic and semantic) over the course of the study.(5)
Therefore, if cognitive decline starts as early as our mid-40s, shouldn’t we start implementing cognitive health support measures as early as possible?
⭐️Cognitive Support Sleep Blend
- 3 drops Bergamot essential oil (Citrus bergamia)
- 3 drops Blood Orange essential oil (Citrus x sinensis sanguinelli)
- 2 drops Fragonia™ essential oil (Agonis fragrans)
- 1 drop Rosemary camphor essential oil (Salvia rosmarinus/Rosmarinus officinalis ct camphor)
🌺See my Recommended Suppliers below
If you want to use this blend for passive cognitive support and enrichment every night, definitely make a stock bottle. This makes prepping your diffuser at bedtime very simple.
🔶️The Cognitive Support Sleep Blend is intended for use by adults only. If you have asthma, inhale the blend’s aroma before diffusing. If you feel a tightening in your chest, please do not diffuse.
Get Stock Bottle Drop Counts
Here are the drop counts for a 5ml essential oil bottle. This will hold about 100 drops of essential oil (depending on the viscosity of the oil and the size of the reducer orifice).
Add your drops directly to the essential oil bottle. Then insert the reducer and cap tightly. Finally roll the bottle between the palms of your hands for at least 30 seconds. This allows the oils to fully blend with each other and it imparts a bit of your energy to the blend.
And remember: Affix a label right away!
Cognitive Support Sleep Blend Stock Bottle
- 33 drops Bergamot essential oil (Citrus bergamia)
- 33 drops Blood Orange essential oil (Citrus x sinensis sanguinelli)
- 22 drops Fragonia essential oil (Agonis fragrans)
- 11 drops Rosemary camphor essential oil (Salvia rosmarinus/Rosmarinus officinalis ct camphor)
Why These Essential Oils for Cognitive Health?
Did you know that of all our senses our brain has the least “startle” response to smell? Additionally the volatile components in essential oils have direct access to our brains. This occurs via nerve transmission and also via the passages in our skull through which the olfactory (smelling) nerves pass.
This unique access to our brains allows us to make the most of aromatherapy during sleep and provides an excellent method of passive cognitive support and enrichment.
“The olfactory nerve—so my friend, the Professor, tells me—is the only one directly connected with the hemispheres of the brain…To speak more truly, the olfactory ‘nerve’ is not a nerve at all, he says, but a part of the brain, in intimate connection with its anterior lobes.”
~Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894), The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table
You’ll see the word “complex” in the essential oil descriptions below. Incorporating these aromatically complex oils creates a blend that’s constantly changing during diffusion. Not only do these oils provide cognitive health support, their complexity provides a great source of cognitive enrichment.
Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus/Rosmarinus officinalis)
A classic choice for focus and memory, Rosemary essential oil improves mental clarity. It’s also energetically restorative and strengthening. It has a prominent personality and aroma, which is why just a single drop is in this blend.
We’re using the camphor chemotype (chemical type) of Rosemary today, as it has a less sharp aroma than the 1,8-cineole (sin-ee-ol) chemotype.
[For another Rosemary blend, check out Hocus Focus Potion. This is the blend I diffuse or use in an inhaler when I am working on a project or really need to focus on a task.]
Bergamot (Citrus bergamia)
Bergamot is a richly complex essential oil. Energetically it’s calming and tension releasing. Additionally, I find it has a comforting energy that eases grief (something I think every adult has at least a bit of these days). Aromatically, Bergamot is sweet, herbaceous, and a bit peppery.
Blood Orange (Citrus x sinensis sanguinelli)
A close relative of the Sweet Orange, Blood Orange pairs very nicely with Rosemary. It has a deeper, softer, more complex aroma than Sweet Orange. I find the aroma familiar and comforting. Energetically it is both calming and restorative and helps move stagnant energy.
Rich in d-limonene, Blood Orange also supports the immune system. Since our bodies do a lot of healing during sleep, it’s an excellent essential oil to include in sleep blends.
Fragonia (Agonis fragrans)
Like both Bergamot and Blood Orange, Fragonia is a complex essential oil. I find it enhances both the therapeutic qualities and aromatic profiles of nearly every other essential oil. Energetically it’s balancing and deeply calming. Aromatically it’s fresh, spicy, sweet, and floral.
Cognitive Support & Enrichment in One Blend
Together these essential oils create a supportive synergy that is:
- memory enhancing
- restorative
- tension reducing
- anxiety easing, and
- intensely calming.
These are great characteristics in a cognitive support blend to diffuse during the first hours of sleep. I hope you and your brain enjoy it!
References
- Woo, C.C., Miranda, B., Sathishkumar, M., Dehkordi-Vakil, F., Yassa, M.A., Leon, M. (2023), Overnight olfactory enrichment using an odorant diffuser improves memory and modifies the uncinate fasciculus in older adults. Front Neurosci 17:1200448. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1200448
- United States Census Bureau. (2023). New population estimates highlight increase in national median age. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/population-estimates-characteristics.html
- Statista.com. (2023). Resident population in the United States in 2022, by generation. https://www.statista.com/statistics/797321/us-population-by-generation/
- United State Census Bureau. (2023). U.S. and world population clock. https://www.census.gov/popclock/
- Singh-Manoux, A., Kivimaki, M., Glymour, M.M., Elbaz, A., Berr, C., Ebmeier, K.P., Ferrie, J.E., Dugravot, A. (2012). Timing of onset of cognitive decline: results from Whitehall II prospective cohort study. BMJ 2012, 344:d7622 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d7622
Mom’s Shopping List
Each of the essential oils in the Cognitive Support Sleep Blend is available in my favorites for Stress & Sleep on Amazon. Here are the specific essential oils I use for this cognitive health blend:
- Bergamot essential oil (Citrus bergamia):
- Aromatics International, organic (for inhalation)
- Plant Therapy, organic, skin-safe FCF (Direct and Amazon).
- Blood Orange essential oil (Citrus x sinensis sanguinelli):
- Aromatics International, organic
- Plant Therapy, organic (Direct and Amazon)
- Edens Garden, sustainable (Amazon).
- Fragonia essential oil (Agonis fragrans):
- Aromatics International, organic💛
- Plant Therapy, sustainable (Direct)
- Edens Garden, sustainable (on Amazon).
- Rosemary essential oil (Rosmarinus officinalis / Salvia rosmarinus):
- Aromatics International, organic, Rosemary camphor and Rosemary verbenone
- Edens Garden, sustainable, “Spanish” Rosemary camphor (on Amazon)
- Plant Therapy, organic, Rosemary 1,8-cineole (Direct and Amazon).
This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It is for educational purposes only.
All recipes provided are for personal use and are not designed for re-sale or large-scale manufacturing.
Please consult your doctor, naturopath, herbal practitioner, or other qualified health professional for medical advice and before starting any herbal regimen, particularly if you are pregnant or nursing, have any existing medical conditions, or are taking any medications.
Chris P | Author, Certified Aromatherapist, Natural Skin Care Formulator
Chris (“Mom”) enjoys formulating bespoke aromatherapy, skin care, and herbal products to support her family, pets, friends, and clients. She also loves experimenting with recipes in the kitchen. An avid reader, writer, and lifetime learner, Chris enthusiastically explores research rabbit holes and then writes about her discoveries.💚 (Learn more >>)
