EEG activity, alertness, and mood were assessed in 40 adults given 3 minutes of aromatherapy using two aromas, lavender (considered a relaxing odor) or rosemary (considered a stimulating odor). Participants were also given simple math computations before and after the therapy. The lavender group showed increased beta power, suggesting increased drowsiness, they had less depressed mood (POMS) and reported feeling more relaxed and performed the math computations faster and more accurately following aromatherapy. The rosemary group, on the other hand, showed decreased frontal alpha and beta power, suggesting increased alertness. They also had lower state anxiety scores, reported feeling more relaxed and alert and they were only faster, not more accurate, at completing the math computations after the aromatherapy session.

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Women exhibiting psychological distress during pregnancy exhibit elevated cortisol levels during midgestation that are in turn related to lower fetal weight.

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Previous research has documented differences in the pattern of EEG activation between 3-month-old infants of depressed mothers and infants of nondepressed mothers. In the present study, EEG was recorded in even younger 1-month-old infants of depressed and nondepressed mothers. The infants of depressed mothers exhibited greater relative right frontal EEG asymmetry (due to reduced left frontal activation), and this pattern at 1 month was significantly related to 3-month EEG asymmetry. Right frontal EEG asymmetry was also related to more frequent negative facial expressions (sad and pre-cry faces) during the Brazelton exam. Finally, the infants of depressed mothers showed more indeterminate sleep, were less active, and cried less than infants of nondepressed mothers.

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The effects of maternal interaction style (intrusive/withdrawn) on the development of brain electrical activity were studied in infants of depressed and non-depressed mothers shortly after birth and again at 3-6 months of age. Infants of depressed mothers exhibited significantly greater relative right frontal EEG activation than infants of non-depressed mothers. Infants of depressed withdrawn mothers exhibited greater relative right frontal EEG activation than infants of depressed intrusive mothers. Furthermore, while infants of depressed mothers with intrusive interaction styles showed a shift towards greater relative left frontal EEG activation from birth to 3-6 months, infants of depressed mothers with withdrawn interaction styles showed a shift towards greater relative right frontal EEG activation. Keywords EEG asymmetry; Depression; Interaction styleMaternal depression has negative effects on infant behavior and physiology. For example, newborns of depressed mothers are more irritable, less consolable (Whiffen & Gotlib, 1989;Zuckerman, Als, Bauchner, Parker, & Cabral, 1990) and less responsive to stimulation (Abrams, Field, Scafidi, & Prodromidis, 1996). Infants of depressed mothers are also less responsive to facial expressions and show more negative and less positive affect when interacting with both their mothers (Cohn, Campbell, Matias, & Hopkins, 1990;Field, 1984) and a non-distressed adult (Field et al., 1988). In addition, infants of depressed mothers exhibit a distinct physiological profile marked by greater relative right frontal EEG activation (Dawson, Klinger, Panagiotides, Hill, & Spieker, 1992;Dawson et al., 1999;Field, Pickens, Fox, & Gonzalez, 1996;Jones, Field, Fox, Lundy, & Davalos, 1997).Asymmetries in brain electrical activity (EEG) over the frontal cortex are associated with the balance of the neural activity underlying two essential dimensions of affect regulation including behavioral approach and behavioral withdrawal (Davidson, 1996 andFox, 1994). Greater relative right frontal EEG activation is thought to reflect greater behavioral withdrawal and has been associated with responses to negative stimuli, inhibited behavior, negative affect and poor emotion regulation (Davidson, 1996 andFox, 1994). Infants also exhibit greater relative right frontal EEG activation during the expression, regulation and perception of negative/ withdrawal emotions (Davidson & Fox, 1982;Field, Pickens, Fox, Gonzalez, & Nawrocki, 1998 activation has been consistently noted in depressed adults (see Davidson, 1996 andDavidson, 2000 for reviews) and infants of depressed mothers as early as birth and Jones et al., 1998.Frontal EEG asymmetry profiles in depressed individuals have been shown to remain stable across time (Tomarken, Keener, & Neubauer, 1994; Vuga et al., 2006) and are present even when these individuals show a remission in their behavioral symptoms (Henriques & Davidson, 1990). Frontal EEG asymmetry profiles have also been shown to remain stable from 1 month to 3 months (Jones, Field, Fox, ...