Physiologic and expectancy effects of stress-reducing aroma in older adults

减轻压力的香气对老年人的生理和预期影响

• 批准号: 8254097
• 负责人: Irina G Chamine
• 金额: $ 4.28万
• 依托单位: OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-09-01 至 2012-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8254097
• 关键词: Address; Adrenal Glands; Adverse effects; Affect; Animals; Aromatherapy; Association Learning; Autonomic nervous system; Brain; Breathing; Complementary and alternative medicine; Elderly; Electroencephalography; Expectancy; Goals; Health; Human; Hydrocortisone; Hypothalamic structure; Individual; Knowledge; Laboratories; Laboratory Study; Lateral; Lead; Learning; Left; Measures; Mediating; Mental Health; Neurotransmitters; Participant; Pattern; Physiological; Physiological Processes; Physiology; Pituitary Gland; Placebo Effect; Placebos; Publishing; Quality of life; Randomized Controlled Trials; Recording of previous events; Research; Research Design; Role; Salivary; Societies; Solid; Stress; Subgroup; Techniques; Testing; Visit; biological adaptation to stress; design; emotional experience; experience; hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; interest; novel; olfactory receptor; physical conditioning; prevent; psychologic; response; stress management; stress related disorder; stressor

Stress exposure might disrupt many physiologic processes and lead to various health problems. Effective stress management strategies can help minimize or prevent detrimental stress consequences. By evaluating efficacy of stress reduction approaches and understanding mechanisms underlying their actions we can determine optimal strategies for preventing stress-related disorders. Aromatherapy is a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approach that has a great promise for stress management as a non-invasive, easy to use, and fast-acting therapy with no major side effects. Though aromatherapy is increasingly used for stress reduction, the evidence for its efficacy is scarce, and mechanisms underlying its action are unknown. The goals of this proposal are: 1) to evaluate efficacy of stress-reducing aromatherapy and 2) elucidate its mechanism of action. A randomized controlled trial will be conducted with 90 stressed older adults allocated to one of three groups exposed to either: 1) stress-reducing aroma, 2) detectable placebo aroma, or 3) non- detectable placebo aroma. Participants' physiologic stress markers will be assessed before, during, and after three laboratory stressors during a study laboratory visit. The assigned aroma will be given 5 minutes prior to onset of laboratory stressors. The physiologic measures of primary interest will include EEG frontal lateral asymmetry patterns and salivary cortisol levels. By comparing changes in physiologic markers in response to stressors among the groups experiencing different aromas, efficacy of aromatherapy will be evaluated. Further, half of the participants in each group will be assigned to receive a prime suggesting they are inhaling a powerful stress-reducing aroma. The mechanism of aromatherapy action, more specifically, the role of expectancy effects will be evaluated by comparing differences in stress response between: 1) the primed and non-primed participants and 2) participants exposed to detectable aroma and those exposed to undetectable aroma. We predict that efficacy of aromatherapy will be demonstrated, and both physiologic and expectancy effects will be shown to contribute to the aromatherapy mechanism of action.

压力暴露可能会扰乱许多生理过程，导致各种健康问题。有效的压力管理策略可以帮助减少或防止有害的压力后果。通过评估减压方法的效果和了解其作用的机制，我们可以确定预防压力相关疾病的最佳策略。芳香疗法是一种补充和替代医学（CAM）方法，作为一种非侵入性，易于使用，无主要副作用的快速治疗方法，在压力管理方面有很大的前景。虽然芳香疗法越来越多地用于减压，但其有效性的证据很少，其作用机制尚不清楚。本研究的目的是：1)评估减压香薰疗法的疗效，2)阐明其作用机制。一项随机对照试验将对90名压力较大的老年人进行随机对照试验，他们被分为三组：1)减压香气，2)可检测到的安慰剂香气，或3)不可检测到的安慰剂香气。在研究实验室访问期间，参与者的生理应激标志物将在三个实验室应激源之前、期间和之后进行评估。指定的香气将在实验室压力源开始前5分钟给予。主要感兴趣的生理测量将包括脑电图额侧不对称模式和唾液皮质醇水平。通过比较不同香气组对应激源的生理指标变化，评估芳香疗法的疗效。此外，每组中一半的参与者将被分配接受一个暗示他们正在吸入一种强大的减压香气。我们将通过比较两组受试者的应激反应差异来评估芳香疗法的作用机制，特别是期望效应的作用：1)启动和未启动的受试者；2)暴露于可检测的香气和暴露于不可检测的香气的受试者。我们预测，芳香疗法的疗效将得到证明，生理和预期效应将被证明有助于芳香疗法的作用机制。