EEG & EDA Essential Oils Research

The recordings done by the EEG records the brainwaves, which are generated by a variety of active neuronal current generators.

The brain can be divided into three main parts:

• cerebrum


• brainstem


• cerebellum

The cerebrum is a paired structure, with left and right hemispheres, each relating to the opposite side of the body.

The brainstem is divided into four regions – the medulla oblongata, the pons, the midbrain and the diencephalon.

The cerebellum receives information from the spinal cord about the position of the the body and limbs in space and can be simplified and called the “feedback” center for the cerebrum.

Brainwaves

To measure brainwaves electrodes are placed onto the scalp using the EEG, but recordings can also be taken on the exposed surface of the brain and are known as electrocorticograms (ECoG) while thin needle electrodes can also be placed into the tissue of the brain to make recordings, which is referred to as depth recordings.

Brainwaves can basically be divided into four different types –

• alpha


• beta


• theta


• delta

Alpha brainwaves occur between 8 – 13 Hz and are normally found when a person is awake in a quiet resting state. These alpha waves disappear totally during sleep.

Beta brainwaves occur between 14 – 30 Hz but during intense mental activity can reach 50 Hz.

Theta brainwaves occur between 4 – 7 Hz and are mostly found in children, but can be found in adults in times of emotional stress, and specifically when disappointed or frustrated.

Delta brainwaves occur below 3.5 Hz and occur in normal deep sleep, during infancy and in serious brain disease and occur only within the cortex.

When measuring brainwaves  by means of an EEG it has been noted that there was an increase of alpha waves when smelling lavender oil, which is assumed to be a relaxant fragrance. These test results did however vary when test subjects were in different states of arousal or relaxation.

When using alerting odors, such as jasmine, an increase in brain activity was noted. Certain odors again reduced systolic blood pressure and reduced stress such as nutmeg, mace extract and valerian oil.

During testing another interesting fact came to light – an odor need not be very strong to have an effect on the body.

With electro-dermal activity (EDA) testing (where the electrical current between two points of the skin is measured) it was also found that slower currents occurred with relaxing odors such as  bergamot and lavender.

EEG & EDA Essential Oils Research

EEG Signals with Essential Oil: an Emotional Analysis

We found that attention which focus on the experiment with bergamot and mint oil enhanced obviously, and the effective of mint oil was better than bergamot oil. On the other hand, the meditation experiment with lavender and ylang ylang also fit with relaxation.

 

 

EEG Signals with Essential Oil: an Emotional Analysis

Funct Neurol. 2009 Apr-Jun;24(2):107-12.

Effects of systemic administration of the essential oil of bergamot (BEO) on gross behaviour and EEG power spectra recorded from the rat hippocampus and cerebral cortex.

Rombolà L1, Corasaniti MT, Rotiroti D, Tassorelli C, Sakurada S, Bagetta G, Morrone LA.

Author information

Abstract

Bergamot (Citrus bergamia Risso et Poiteau) is a citrus fruit growing almost exclusively in the South of Italy. Its essential oil is obtained by cold pressing of the epicarp and, partly, of the mesocarp of the fresh fruit. Although this phytocomplex has been used for centuries, reputedly effectively, as a traditional medicine, there is very little verified scientific evidence to support this use. This paper reports original data on the systemic effects of the essential oil of bergamot (BEO) on gross behaviour and EEG activity recorded from the hippocampus and cerebral cortex of the rat. The Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) was used to analyse and quantify the energy in single frequency bands of the EEG spectrum. The results obtained indicate that systemic administration of increasing volumes of BEO produces dose-dependent increases in locomotor and exploratory activity that correlate with a predominant increase in the energy in the faster frequency bands of the EEG spectrum. These data contribute to our understanding of the neurobiological profile of BEO.

PMID:

 

19775539

 

[PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

Effects of systemic administration of the essential oil of bergamot (BEO) on gross behaviour and EEG power spectra recorded from the rat hippocampus and cerebral cortex

Bergamot potential application as chemotherapeutic for breast cancer

Bergamot essential oil (BEO) is a well-known plant extract, obtained by cold pressing of the epicarp and, partly, of the mesocarp of the fresh fruit of bergamot (Citrus bergamia, Risso et Poiteau). The fruit belongs to the genus Citrus of the Rutaceae family and grows, almost exclusively, in a restricted area along the coast of Southern Italy.

BEO comprises a volatile fraction (93–96% of total) containing monoterpene and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated derivatives and a nonvolatile fraction (4–7% of total) characterized by coumarins and furocoumarins . The most abundant components of the essential oil are the monoterpene hydrocarbon d-limonene and the monoterpene ester, linalyl acetate, with d-limonene accounting for about 40% of the whole oil .

Bergamot essential oil has been used by folk medicine as antiseptic and antihelminthic and to facilitate wound healing and these uses are now supported by experimental data reporting the antifungal  and antimicrobial activities of the phytocomplex as well as its ability to increase oxidative metabolism in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes . Recently, analgesic , anxiolytic , and neuroprotective  effects have been ascribed to bergamot essential oil and these are consistent with the use of the oil in aromatherapy for the relief of pain and symptoms associated with stress-induced anxiety and depression. Furthermore it has been shown in rodents that BEO affects synaptic transmission by modulating the release of specific amino acid neurotransmitters and it produces a dose-related sequence of sedative and stimulatory behavioral effects in freely moving, normal rats.

Despite the number of studies on the effects of bergamot essential oil under pathological or normal conditions, data regarding its potential activity on tumor cells have only recently been gained. Accordingly, a recent study reported that exposure of human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells to 0.02 and 0.03% bergamot essential oils significantly reduced cell viability inducing both necrotic and apoptotic cell death; cytotoxicity induced by the phytocomplex was accompanied by cytoskeletal alteration, mitochondrial dysfunction, caspase-3 activation, DNA fragmentation, plasma membrane damage, and cleavage of prosurvival proteins. The mixed features of necrotic and apoptotic cell death induced by bergamot essential oil might be related to its complex phytochemical composition, suggesting that different components might activate different pathways to execute cell death. A follow-up study engaged to identify the components responsible for cell death induced by the phytocomplex showed that, at comparable concentrations with those found in cytotoxic concentrations of the oil, none of the tested constituents (d-limonene, linalyl acetate, linalool, -terpinene, -pinene, and bergapten) reduced SH-SY5Y cell viability, while only the combination of limonene and linalyl acetate was able to induce cell death. Accordingly, the bergapten-free fraction of bergamot essential oil was shown to be more effective than the complete phytocomplex suggesting that bergapten is not the main component responsible for the observed cytotoxicity.

Interestingly, it was recently shown that bergamot essential oil and its main component limonene activate autophagy in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma and MCF7 human breast cancer cell lines. This effect was concentration-dependent, unrelated to the effects elicited by the essential oil on cell survival, and occurred with a mTOR-independent mechanism. In view of the role of autophagy in limiting cancer development while facilitating advanced tumor progression, the finding that an essential oil is able to activate this pathway can be extremely relevant for its potential application as chemotherapeutic and therefore it stimulates further studies.

As for other essential oils, the hydrophobic nature of bergamot essential oil requires the use of solvents endowed with toxic effects (i.e., DMSO, ethanol) that can limit the therapeutic use of the phytocomplex. Celia and colleagues (2013) recently showed that this limitation could be overcome by loading the essential oil in pegylated liposomes; in addition, the liposomal formulation of bergamot essential oil showed enhanced cytotoxic effect in neuroblastoma cells as compared to the free phytocomplex. Similarly, encapsulation of other essential oils in nanocarriers (i.e., polymeric nanoparticulate formations and lipid carriers, such as liposomes) might represent a good strategy for improving water solubility and stability of essential oils while lowering their effective dose and limiting potential side effects.

Bergamot potential application as chemotherapeutic for breast cancer