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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调查据称对睡眠有益的气味的假定影响：神经和感知过程

介绍

嗅觉在生理和情感过程中发挥着重要作用，并有可能对睡眠和学习等活动产生深远的影响。我们研究了两种商业制造的气味（“深度睡眠”和“东方”，来自 This Works），与对照气味进行比较，目的是探索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，30 名健康参与者在功能磁共振成像 (fMRI) 过程中通过嗅觉计暴露在气味中。在一项针对 12 名慢性失眠症患者的进一步行为研究中，我们在双盲、随机家庭评估中调查了商业气味是否对睡眠有影响。

结果

在神经影像学中，气味与嗅觉相关区域（例如眶额皮层）的激活有关，我们发现梨状皮层与海马体、杏仁核、岛叶和中扣带皮层之间存在正连接。深度睡眠特别激活颞上回，而东方睡眠则激活尾状核。此外，这些商业气味对睡眠显示出一些有益的影响。

结论

商业气味对感知和神经的影响表明，嗅觉刺激可以通过多种方式帮助睡眠并改变情感过程。

影响

目前的工作为进一步研究不同的气味如何导致特定的行为和生理改变（例如它们对睡眠和幸福感的影响）提供了机会，这可能提供非药物替代方法。