Effects of fragrance on brain activity

Among many kinds of odors, some are known to have effects of sedation or stimulation on brain activity. In this study, brain activity levels affected by four kinds of fragrance0lemon, lavender, jasmine, and rose-were tested using EEG recording. In the first experiment, the quality of alpha wave was examined under controlled rest condition. In the second experiment, the event-related potential (ERP) and contingent negative variation (CNV) were investigated during a simple reaction tasks (SRT) against auditory signal. EEG data obtained for the rest condition were analyzed suing "3-Dimensional Viewer)" which was developed by ourselves to show the chaotic attractor of the signal. Power spectrum were also calculated using FET. EEG data obtained during the SRT were analyzed by comparing CNV amplitudes about each odor condition. Results confirmed the sedative effect of the lemon and the lavender, and the stimulative effect of the jasmine and the rose.