Have you herb about this; the effect of cholinergic agonists on motor control
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1
Department of Psychological Science, School of Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University, Australia
Aim: The effect of rosemary on the cognitive function of humans has so far received little research attention. However, there is some evidence that it influences motor control through its cholinergic nature. Despite its importance, motor control tends to deteriorate somewhat with age and with disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Motor control can be measured in a number of ways. For example, movements in circle and spiral drawing tasks are often used as they are easily generalizable to actions similar to everyday tasks such as writing. The study set out to determine if the presentation of rosemary influenced performance on a motor task. Methods: Participants (N=29) were exposed to the aroma of either rosemary, the experimental cholinergic agonist, or peppermint, used as a control. After exposure participants were asked to perform several circle (1cm, 3cm, and 5cm in diameter) and spiral drawing (up to approx. 10cm diameter, dominant and non-dominant hands) tasks on a graphics tablet. Analysis of performance focused on the differences in velocity, size and accuracy of the movement between the two groups, expected differences were thought to be due to the cholinergic effects of rosemary. Results: In both experimental and control groups, for circle drawing, participants drew circles of a size similar to the target circle. Within trial variability of velocity tended to be greater for participants in the control compared to the experimental condition. Similarly, results from the spiral analysis suggest a more controlled movement for the rosemary condition, with a trend towards a smaller distance between each revolution, to form a more compact spiral. Conclusions: While differences between groups were not significant, the mean values and variability suggests that with a larger sample size significant differences will result. Thus reinforcing the cholinergic effects of rosemary, and its influence on motor control.
Keywords:
Cholinergic agonist,
Rosemary,
motor control,
Circle,
Spiral
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:
Weiss
ML,
Longstaff
M and
Provost
S
(2019). Have you herb about this; the effect of cholinergic agonists on motor control.
Front. Psychol.
Conference Abstract:
15th Annual Psychology Honours Research Conference .
doi: 10.3389/conf.fpsyg.2018.74.00031
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Received:
18 Sep 2018;
Published Online:
27 Sep 2019.
*
Correspondence:
Miss. Maddison L Weiss, Department of Psychological Science, School of Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, Australia, m.weiss.10@student.scu.edu.au
Dr. Mitchell Longstaff, Department of Psychological Science, School of Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, Australia, mitchell.longstaff@scu.edu.au
Dr. Steve Provost, Department of Psychological Science, School of Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, Australia, steve.provost@scu.edu.au