Speed in your nose: the effect of a nebulized essential oil on reaction time and brain function.
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1
School of Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University, Australia
Aims: Disorders relating to motor function can have devastating impacts on the quality and duration of life of sufferers. At present, pharmaceutical interventions have varying degrees of success and may have wide ranging side effects that detract further from quality of life, often requiring secondary medications to manage. Nicotine, a cholinergic agonist, has been used with some success in Parkinson’s disease patients, however this is not tolerated well in some individuals. An alternative cholinergic agonist is rosemary essential oil, which has seen historical use in folk medicine, primarily being perceived as useful for improving mood and memory. A key advantage of using rosemary essential oil as a cholinergic agonist is its low side effect profile when compared to drugs such as nicotine and L-dopa. This study aims to investigate the potential efficacy of rosemary essential oil as a moderator of motor function. Method: Twenty-nine participants were recruited from the general public and university students and submitted to a battery of tests including the stop signal task, covert orienting task, Hicks-Hyman task and spiral drawing analysis. Participants were allocated to one of two groups; peppermint oil (control) and rosemary oil (experimental), with participants being exposed to the essential oils via a nebulizer device. Results: A small difference was found between the control and experimental groups suggesting an effect for rosemary essential oil, which is congruent with the expectations of this study. Conclusion: The small differences detected in the aforementioned tests suggest that there is the possibility of rosemary oil providing some type of mediating effect on motor function. Future research should be aimed at determining efficacy of rosemary oil in a wider range of motor tasks, as well as further exploring the neurophysiological mechanisms of this effect.
Keywords:
Motor function,
Rosemary essential oil,
Dopamine,
Parkinson ' s disease,
Cholinergic agonist
Conference:
15th Annual Psychology Honours Research Conference , Coffs Harbour, Australia, 4 Oct - 5 Oct, 2018.
Presentation Type:
Research
Topic:
Abstract for 15th Annual Psychology Honours Research Conference
Citation:
Dwyer
MA,
Provost
SC and
Longstaff
MG
(2019). Speed in your nose: the effect of a nebulized essential oil on reaction time and brain function..
Front. Psychol.
Conference Abstract:
15th Annual Psychology Honours Research Conference .
doi: 10.3389/conf.fpsyg.2018.74.00004
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Received:
18 Sep 2018;
Published Online:
27 Sep 2019.
*
Correspondence:
Mr. Mark A Dwyer, School of Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University, Lismore, Australia, m.dwyer.11@student.scu.edu.au