INCENSE STICKS FOR BRAIN

Religious leaders have contended for millennia that burning incense is good for the soul. Now, biologists have learned that it is good for our brains too. An international team of scientist, including researchers from John Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, describe how burning frankincense, resin from the Boswelia plant, activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression. This suggests that an entirely new class of depression and anxiety drugs might be right under our nose. “In spite of information stemming from ancient texts, constituents of Boswelia had not been investigated for psycho activity.” Said Raphel Mechoulam, one of the research study’s co-authors.
Apparently most present day worshippers assume that incense burning has only a symbolic meaning.” To determine incense’s psychoactive affects, the researchers administered incensole acetate to mice. They found that the compound significantly affected areas in brain areas known to be involving din emotions as well as in nerve circuits that are affected by current anxiety and depression drugs.