Enhancement of Autonomic Stress Response and Reduction of Subjective Stress by Lavender Inhalation During a Short-term Calculation Task

Abstract

We investigated the effects of two prominent aromas, lavender and jasmine, on peripheral and cardiac autonomic nervous system activity under stressful conditions, in a highly reproducible manner using an olfactometer. The subjects comprised 17 healthy men aged 20-24 years. In this within-subjects study design, all subjects were required to perform a simple calculation task for 30 min to induce cognitive stress, and aroma from lavender or jasmine essential oil or a control stimulus was inhaled intermittently ( rst 20 s of each 1-min interval) to prevent olfactory fatigue. The control stimulus was provided by triethyl citrate, an odourless solvent. In addition to subjective psychological assessments using a visual analogue scale, the temperature at the tip of the nose and cardiac activity on electrocardiogram were recorded as indices of peripheral and cardiac autonomic nervous system activities, respectively. Signi cant decreases in nose tip temperature and high-frequency (HF) component of heart rate variability (HRV), and a signi cant increase in heart rate were observed under all three conditions. However, compared with the control condition, lavender inhalation induced signi cantly greater decreases in nose tip temperature (p < 0.01) and HF component of HRV (p < 0.01), which indicated greater enhancement of sympathetic nervous system activity and suppression of parasympathetic nervous system activity. On the other hand, lavender inhalation induced a positive mood, less subjective stress, and increased concentration during the task (p < 0.01). These contradictory results of enhanced physiological stress response and lower subjective stress induced by lavender inhalation under stressful conditions suggest that lavender aroma may have effects other than sedation. Further studies are necessary to further clarify these effects.

Psychophysiological Effects of Aroma Inhalation during a Short-term Cognitive Stressor: A Preliminary Study using Eight Different Aromas

“…Intriguing findings on the physiological functioning of lavender has been found in our previous study [16] which was conducted in a well-controlled manner, using an olfactometer. Lavender is one of the aromas having the highest reputation for sedative effect on mind.…”

“…The experiment was conducted in a similar experimental procedure as of our previous study on lavender and jasmine [16]. Within-subject design was employed in the study which consisted of a 10-min initial rest period as the initialization period (denoted as R1), a 30-min calculation task to induce cognitive stress (denoted as T), and a subsequent 15-min recovery period (denoted as R2), as shown in Figure 1.…”

“…Even though the calculation task is simple, it requires sustained concentration and attention. Therefore, it has been frequently used for inducing acute stress in previous studies [16][17][18][19].…”

“…Examples include perfumer's paper strips [3], cups or vials containing the odourants [5,7], aroma stones [13], impregnated materials worn by the participants [15] and aroma lamps [14] or electric dispensers [11] used to diffuse the odours in the ambient environment. Meanwhile, only a limited evidence is reported so far for the use of well-controlled administration techniques such as olfactometers [8,16].…”

Effects of Aromatherapy on Stress Responses, Autonomic Nervous System Activity and Blood Pressure in the Patients Undergoing Coronary Angiography: A Non-Randomized Controlled Trial

“…라벤더 오일(Lavandula angustifolia) 흡입이 관상동맥조영술 전 환 자의 불안에 미치는 효과를 파악한 연구 [9], 라벤더오일이 관상동맥 조영술환자의 혈압, 맥박, 호흡 등에 영향을 미치는 연구 [10], 라벤더 오일이 관상동맥 집중치료실 환자의 수면의 질과 불안에 영향을 미 치는 연구 [11], 건강한 성인을 대상으로 라벤더오일이 스트레스, 자 율신경계활성도, 혈압, 심박동수에 영향을 미치는 연구 [12,13] Table 1). Table 2).…”