In the 5,000 years since Ancient Egyptians experimented with scented plants, aromatherapy has been credited with a plethora of powers. Today it is a multimillion-pound industry, recognized as effective by three quarters of the adult population and hailed as a cure for problems from nicotine addiction to baldness.
But aromatherapy could be little more than an illusion, psychologists argue. Neil Martin, from Middlesex University, a specialist in the psychology of olfaction, has a less polite word for it: "bunkum". Dr Martin enlisted 60 volunteers and subjected them all to experimentally induced pain by getting them to plunge their forearms into ice-cold water for 15 minutes. A third of participants were exposed to a pleasant lemon odour, a third to the odour of machine oil and the rest were in an odourless room. They were asked to rate the amount of pain they felt on a scale of 0 (painless) to 11 (unbearable) every five minutes.
At the first time of asking, those exposed to an odour reported significantly higher pain levels, with a score of 8 for both groups, than the controlled group, which had an average of 6. After 15 minutes the pain level of the no-odour group had fallen to 5. Among the lemon-odour group it had fallen to
But aromatherapy could be little more than an illusion, psychologists argue. Neil Martin, from Middlesex University, a specialist in the psychology of olfaction, has a less polite word for it: "bunkum". Dr Martin enlisted 60 volunteers and subjected them all to experimentally induced pain by getting them to plunge their forearms into ice-cold water for 15 minutes. A third of participants were exposed to a pleasant lemon odour, a third to the odour of machine oil and the rest were in an odourless room. They were asked to rate the amount of pain they felt on a scale of 0 (painless) to 11 (unbearable) every five minutes.
At the first time of asking, those exposed to an odour reported significantly higher pain levels, with a score of 8 for both groups, than the controlled group, which had an average of 6. After 15 minutes the pain level of the no-odour group had fallen to 5. Among the lemon-odour group it had fallen to
问答题
What is aromatherapy?
【正确答案】
【答案解析】 Aromatherapy, experimented with scented plants since Ancient Egyptians, is a method which can be beneficial in curing some diseases, used for lifting mood and alleviating pain. It has been credited with great power and even hailed as a cure for problems from nicotine addiction to baldness.
问答题
What is Dr Martin's view over aromatherapy? Give a brief introduction of his experiment.
【正确答案】
【答案解析】 Dr. Martin holds a negative attitude towards aromatherapy, regarding it as nonsense. In his experiment, the subjects suffering from induced pain were divided into three groups exposed to different situations in terms of odor. The purpose of the experiment is to see whether odor can relieve pain. The research results demonstrated not merely that aromatherapy had no effect but that it could be positively harmful.
问答题
What is Carole Preen's opinion of Dr Martin's research?
【正确答案】
【答案解析】 Carole Preen disputed Dr. Martin's findings. He thinks the research didn't involve aromatherapy because they simply used a certain smell to try and gain an effect.