| Abstrakt: |
Objective: History of aromatherapy using various odor dates back to 5000s. Recently, it has been argued that odor has many effects such as antidepressant, stimulation, increased memory, correction of cognitive impairment. This situation is alsovery popular among the public. It is widely believed that vanilla odor is effective in learning. Şeker and Özerdem, in their study on the effects of odor activity, showed that vanilla scent caused wave changes in EEG. However, there is nostudy onthe effect of vanilla scent on cognitive functions. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possible effect of vanilla odor cognitive functions. Methods: The study included healthy male right handed volunteers, non-color blindness, aged between 18-22 years (n=20). In the study, simple visual reaction time (VRT), complex VRT, simple recognition VRT and complex recognition VRT tests were applied to evaluate possible cognitive effects of vanilla odor. Tests were repeated in 3different days inthe normal room atmosphere, in the room with vanilla odor and onion odor. Using odors; While the effect of vanilla odor oncognitive functions was examined, the odor of onion was used as bad odor in order to exclude whether the smell had anoverall effect. In order to make odor density as standard, 1ml of vanilla oil was dripped into 2 sponges of 5x5x2 cm size and the test room was kept closed for 30 minutes. For the smell of onion, 2 onion slices were used which were prepared in 5x5x2 cm dimensions. Results: Median (IQR) duration ofthe complex VRT testwas 325.77(162.97) ms in the normal room atmosphere and 309.57(34.64) ms in the test in the presence of vanilla scent (p<0.05). In the complex recognition VRT tests, the mean±standard deviation was 580.14±134.94 ms in the normal room atmosphere test 495.50±96.55ms in the vanilla odor environment test (p<0.001). No statistically significant difference was found between the othertests. Conclusion: The results of the study showed that vanilla odor accelerated complex VRT and complex recognitionVRT times and had a positive effect oncognitive functions. For this reason, it can be useful touse vanilla odor in libraries, work rooms and workplaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
