Recent Advances in Smellscape Research for the Built Environment

Which horticultural activities are more effective for children's recovery from stress and mental fatigue? A quasi-experimental study

Introduction

Studies have established the benefits of horticultural therapy and activities for human health and well-being. Nonetheless, limited research has been conducted on the potential restorative advantages and distinctions between different types of horticultural activities in terms of stress reduction.

Methods

This study employed a quantitative research method to investigate the stress recovery benefits of five horticultural activities (flower arrangement, sowing and transplanting seeds, kokedama crafting, pressed flower card making, and decorative bottle painting with dried flowers) and one reference activity (short composition writing) for children. The experiment was conducted in a children's activity center's multi-purpose classroom with 48 elementary students aged 9-12 years. The subjects first took a stress test to induce stress and then engaged in horticultural activities for 20 min. Physiological stress was assessed using electrocardiograms and electroencephalograms as feedback indicators. Psychological and emotional changes were determined using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children and Self-Assessment Manikin scales.

Results

The results demonstrated that horticultural activities greatly reduced physiological fatigue, and their recovery benefits were significantly greater than those of the reference activity. The recovery effects from different horticultural activities were similar across physiological indicators, although flower arrangement and sowing and transplanting seeds exhibited relatively robust recovery benefits. The heart rate and α-EEG-based generalized estimating equation revealed that horticultural activities offered significantly better relative recovery at each time phase of operation than the reference activity, with girls showing a 3.68% higher relative recovery value than boys. Flower arrangement and kokedama crafting offered better physiological recovery for students with prior horticultural experience, and these two activities received the highest scores in terms of positive effects and the "pleasure" dimension. Students believed that participating in horticultural activities resulted in a noteworthy increase in personal confidence and a greater sense of achievement.

Conclusion

The study suggests that horticultural activities that involve real and vibrant plants or natural materials and are more attractive have more stress-relieving benefits. We conclude that horticultural activities are beneficial leisure activities that aid in stress relief for children and that it is important to consider the attributes of activities when developing horticultural programs for elementary students.

Methodologies for smellwalks and scentwalks-a critical review

Olfactory elements of the human environment are essential with respect to culture, society, and heritage, and robust methodological approaches are necessary to identify and describe aspects of this sensory component. To accurately investigate and advance knowledge of olfactory composition of spaces and places, that is, a smellscape-an olfactory contextualized landscape-innovative methodologies such as smellwalks can be employed as part of the research approach. Despite the increasing use of smellwalks, there is no current standard methodology for this investigative method in practice. We identify major themes including variance of group size, participant versus researcher-led walking techniques, reinvention of smellwalking process, and methodological discussion and theory. Limitations and future research potential are suggested, including that of group dynamics, attribute focus, the extension of smellwalk attribute data beyond traditional hedonic attributes, and avenues for development of future processes and protocols for multisensory sensewalks.

Smellscape as a healing factor in institutional gardens to enhance health and well-being for older people with dementia: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

There is mounting evidence for the health benefits of aromatic scents for the older people with dementia. However, existing research has focused on indoor aromatherapy using essential oils. It is necessary to explore the health benefits of smellscapes in the outdoor environment for older people with dementia.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

This scoping review aims to examine existing evidence for smellscape as a healing factor in institutional garden for older people with dementia, try to bridge the knowledge gaps between outdoor sensory garden scents and aromatherapy to develop green care techniques that incorporate outdoor activities.

METHODS

Seven databases (Scopus, PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Embase and Web of Science) were searched with English language articles published between 1990 and 2022. The PRISMA-ScR Checklist was used.

RESULTS

Out of 1013 articles, 11 meet the inclusion criteria. The comprehensive health outcomes include five aspects: mental health; physical health; reduced agitation behaviour; improved cognitive function; and well-being. These aspects are part of the rehabilitation model comprising the person (older people with dementia), environment (garden smellscapes) and outdoor activities (active or passive interventions or a combination).

CONCLUSIONS

The smellscape, as a healing factor in the garden, not only benefits from evidence on indoor aromatherapy but also creates a sensory environment for older people with dementia by compensating for functional impairment, activity support and environmental creation, thereby promoting enhanced health and well-being.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

The research on the healing effects of smellscapes presented in this review offers a novel environmental intervention technique for transferring evidence on essential oils to outdoor sensory gardens. This green care technique is suggested to assist in the creation of healing environments and interventions for people with dementia who cannot be cured.

NO PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

This scoping review did not directly involve patient or public contributions to the manuscript.

Sensory emotion regulation

Decades of evidence reveal intimate links between sensation and emotion. Yet, discussion of sensory experiences as tools that promote emotion regulation is largely absent from current theorizing on this topic. Here, we address this gap by integrating evidence from social-personality, clinical, cognitive-neuroscience, and animal research to highlight the role of sensation as a tool that can be harnessed to up- or downregulate emotion. Further, we review evidence implicating sensation as a rapid and relatively effortless emotion regulation modality and highlight future research directions. Notably, we emphasize the need to examine the duration of sensory emotion regulation effects, the moderating role of individual and cultural differences, and how sensory strategies interact with other strategies.

A New Perspective of Sustainable Perception: Research on the Smellscape of Urban Block Space

The smell of space is inseparable from the sustainable development of the living environment. The research on olfactory perception and smell landscape has a positive effect on landscape design and urban planning and contributes to the formation and design optimization of unique urban memory. This study combines urban smell tracking experiments with Internet social media data analysis to classify smells in the old city center of Guangzhou, China, and analyzes the study within the inner ring and six historic districts. Based on the research results, the smell map was drawn, and the reliability of the smell map was tested through social data and semantic analysis. The emotional score heat map of smell and emotion in six regions was constructed, highlighting the impact of smell in key neighborhoods on the environment. In the conclusion to the study, the thematic routes of green urban design are proposed: sightseeing routes, cultural routes, and food routes, as well as improvement strategies to promote the integration of smell and urban operation activities and the sustainable development of urban regional characteristics.

From Smelly Buildings to the Scented Past: An Overview of Olfactory Heritage

Olfactory heritage is an aspect of cultural heritage concerning the smells that are meaningful to a community due to their connections with significant places, practices, objects or traditions. Knowledge in this field is produced at the intersection of history, heritage science, chemistry, archaeology, anthropology, art history, sensory science, olfactory museology, sensory geography and other domains. Drawing on perspectives from system dynamics, an approach which focuses on how parts of a system and their relationships result in the collective behaviours of the system, we will outline a series of practices relevant to this field and identify the elements, materials and competences involved, as well as the connections and interactions. While research in olfactory heritage is currently growing, much of the knowledge that could advance our understanding of this field is still being developed within disciplinary boundaries, leading to little integration of the knowledge and methods and limited interdisciplinary interpretation of findings. In the first part, we review the methodologies for identifying, researching and preserving olfactory heritage, highlighting methodological opportunities and challenges from diverse perspectives like smellscape research, odour nuisance management or heritage science. In the second part, we review the presentation and communication of olfactory heritage in museums and other heritage spaces, outlining the value of presenting scents to wide audiences for interpretation and engagement purposes. Finally, we discuss challenges associated with historical scent reconstruction, and discuss future directions for the field, such as the potential of mining large digital collections for olfactory data.