Behavioral and Neural Changes Induced by a Blended Essential Oil on Human Selective Attention.

Behavioral and Neural Changes Induced by a Blended Essential Oil on Human Selective Attention.
Behav Neurol. 2019;2019:5842132
Authors: Liu J, Cai S, Chen D, Wu K, Liu Y, Zhang R, Chen M, Li X
Abstract
Selective attention refers to the selecting and preferential processing of specific information while simultaneously suppressing irrelevant distractors, activities linked to various cognitive skills and academic achievements. The influence of essential oils on the cognition of humans has been extensively explored. However, the effects of essential oils on human selective attention and the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. In the present study, participants were divided into a "blended essential oil" group and a "no essential oil" group and enrolled on a negative priming task, including a control condition and a negative priming condition. The event-related potential technique was used to examine the brain mechanisms underlying the blended essential oil effects on human selective attention. Behavioral results showed that individuals responded more quickly in the negative priming condition when exposed to the blended essential oil. In addition, the blended essential oil eliminated the differences in the P300 amplitude in the postcentral area of the brain between the negative priming condition and the control condition. Moreover, the blended essential oil led to stronger functional connectivity during the task. The present stud...

Source: Behavioural Neurology - November 19, 2019 Category: Neurology Authors: Liu J, Cai S, Chen D, Wu K, Liu Y, Zhang R, Chen M, Li X Tags: Behav Neurol Source Type: research