Abstract
Maintaining one's brain in a healthy state is fundamentally important to maintain a rich and fulfilling mental and social life. There are numerous ways to eliminate stress and maintain the brain in a healthy condition. Some of the better methods recommended include food, aroma, and doing coloring-in. To confirm the effects of these methods, scientists have begun using new physiological methods such as brain imaging instead of conventional subjective evaluation techniques. Methods used in brain imaging, such as analysis of EEG background activity as well as event-related potentials (ERPs) are not only safe and simple; they also excel as means of allowing long-term, chronological observations of changes in brain function. ERPs electrophysiologically display the process of cognition or of information processing that takes place in the brain. Ordinarily, ERPs are measured by means of setting "oddball task". Analysis of EEG background activity and measurement of ERPs are especially useful for assessing stress and for identifying the status of cerebral dysfunction in dementia patients. Moreover, they can be used not only to measure the effects of pharmacotherapy, but also to objectively evaluate the effects of aroma and food on stress and dementia, which until now have only been evaluated subjectively. By using both methods, we have confirmed that "luxuries" such as coffee and alcoholic beverages as well as foods such as arachidonic acid, an unsaturated fatty acid, are effective in enhancing brain health by alleviating stress and improving brain function.
