抄録
Fragrance materials such as perfumes have long been known to exert effects on the mind and body. Throughout histry, perfumes have been used as sedatives and stimulants. However, there are very few psychophysiological studies in aromachology with regard to the effect of odor itself on human subjects.
In this study, the effects of odors on cardiac response patterns were investigated during the foreperiod of the two-stimulus paradigm in a simple reaction time task. Changes in the cardiac response pattern were typically triphasic during the foreperiod between the worning stimulus (WS) and imperative stimulus (IS).
Heart rate decelelation (DE) usually seen just prior to IS is thought to reflect the process of anticipation or attention. Thus, stimulative odors are expected to activate those processes while sedative odors are thought to exert a suppressive effect.
This experiment was designed to estimate the effect of some kinds of odors by the DE amplitude. Olfactory stimulation (some different aromatic air samples and odorless air) was provided to subjects by the blast method.
A trial consisted of a 5-second rest period, followed by a 20-second period in which the olfactory stimulus was presented, a 10-second foreperiod lasting from the WS tone to the IS tone signaling the subject to press the response key, and a 15-second post-foreperiod after the IS tone.
The odor of lemon, traditionally thought to be stimulative, had the effect of activating anticipation or attention process. This effect tended to be stronger by increasing odor intensity. On the other hand, the rose odor, thought to be sedative, had the effect of suppressing this process, and these effect was observed across all intensity levels.
Futhermore, We carried out an experiment in the same method, to estimate the effects of 3 kinds of perfumes for the development of odor using for certain skincare products.
We believe this investigational method with two-stimulus paradigm could be a useful one to determine the psychophysiological effects of odor especially in stimulative-sedative continuum of its effect.
