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5. PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO REPEATED INHALATIONS OF TREE ODORS IN INFANTS

PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO REPEATED INHALATIONS OF TREE ODORS IN INFANTS

Tsunetsugu Yuko (1), Yamashita Yasuko (2)

1) Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan; 2) Central Research Center, Pigeon Corporation, Tsukubamirai, Japan

Tsunetsugu Yuko, e-mail: yukot@ffpri.affrc.go.jp.

Abstract

We investigated the physiological responses to inhalations of odorous components of coniferous trees in infants. The participants were 57 infants of 1-3 months old whose parents gave a written informed consent. Each infant was exposed for two or three minutes to three different odors of α-pinene, limonene and a control (air). Two or three minutes of rest were taken before and after the exposure to odors. During this rest-inhalation-rest course, cerebral activity (NIRO200, Hamamatsu Photonics KK.) and an electrocardiogram (Polymate II AP-216, TEAC) were continuously measured. Heart rate and heart rate variability were calculated from the electrocardiogram. The measurements were repeated with a 2-week interval until the infants became 3.5 months old. The data was analyzed excluding the cases where the infants fell asleep or cried. The cerebral activity was enhanced in response to all three odors including the control. The heart rate significantly decreased in response to α-pinene (p<0.05), but not to limonene and the control. The heart rate during the inhalations of the odors decreased as the number of repetition increased (p<0.01). The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous activities, which were assessed by heart rate variability analysis, did not show significant changes. We consider that the measurement system we have built for assessing infants’ physiological responses to odors is useful, but further investigations are still necessary as there were many missing data accompanying infants’ crying or sleeping.

Keywords

near infrared spectroscopy, heart rate, heart rate variability, olfactory stimulation

Цит.: Tsunetsugu Yuko, Yamashita Yasuko PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO REPEATED INHALATIONS OF TREE ODORS IN INFANTS // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2014; 3/2014; с. 136-136