Introduction

Olfaction has an important role in physiological and affective processes, as well as the potential to have profound effects on activities such as sleep and learning. We investigated two commercially manufactured odors (“Deep Sleep” and “Oriental,” from This Works) purported to promote sleep, compared with control odor, where we aimed to explore whether neural and behavioral differences existed after odor inhalation.

Methods

In a neuroimaging study, 30 healthy participants were exposed to the odors via an olfactometer during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In a further behavioral study using 12 chronic insomniacs, we investigated whether the commercial odors showed effects on sleep during a double-blind, randomized home evaluation.

Results

In the neuroimaging, the odors were related to activation of olfactory-relevant areas, such as the orbitofrontal cortex, and we found positive connectivity between the piriform cortex and the hippocampus, amygdala, insula, and middle cingulate cortex. Deep Sleep specifically activated the superior temporal gyrus, whereas Oriental activated the caudate. Further, these commercial odors showed some beneficial impact on sleep.

Conclusions

The perceptual and neural impacts of the commercial odors showed that olfactory stimulation can potentially aid sleep and modify affective processes in a number of ways.

Implications

The present work opens up opportunities for further investigations into how different odors may lead to specific behavioral and physiological modifications, such as their impact on sleep and well-being, which may provide non-pharmacological alternative approaches.

中文翻译：

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研究据称对睡眠有有益影响的气味的假定影响：神经和知觉过程

介绍

嗅觉在生理和情感过程中起着重要作用，并可能对诸如睡眠和学习等活动产生深远影响。与对照气味相比，我们调查了两种旨在促进睡眠的商业制造气味（“深度睡眠”和“东方”，与对照气味相比），目的是探讨吸入气味后是否存在神经和行为差异。

方法

在一项神经影像学研究中，功能磁共振成像（fMRI）期间，有30名健康参与者通过嗅觉计暴露在气味中。在进一步的使用12种慢性失眠症的行为研究中，我们调查了商业气味是否在双盲，随机家庭评估中显示出对睡眠的影响。

结果

在神经影像学中，气味与嗅觉相关区域（例如眼眶额叶皮层）的激活有关，并且我们发现梨状皮层与海马，杏仁核，岛状和扣带状中层之间存在正向连接。深度睡眠特别激活了颞上回，而东方激活了尾状。此外，这些商业气味对睡眠显示出一些有益的影响。

结论

商业气味的知觉和神经影响表明，嗅觉刺激可以多种方式潜在地帮助睡眠和改变情感过程。

含义

本工作为进一步研究不同气味如何导致特定的行为和生理变化（例如它们对睡眠和幸福感的影响）提供了机会，这可以提供非药理学的替代方法。