–86（2016）Effect of Bergamot Oil and on the Concentration-Improving Effect of Rosemary Oil in Aromatherapy
日本香粧品学会誌
Inﬂuence of CounselingVol. 40,Intervention
No. 2, onpp.the79
Stress-Reducing

79〈Regular Article〉

Inﬂuence of Counseling Intervention on the Stress-Reducing Effectof Bergamot Oil and on the Concentration-Improving Effectof Rosemary Oil in Aromatherapy
Minae ISAWA1, *, Risako KOH1, Hiroshi ITOH1, Tomohiro NISHIMURA1, Masatoshi TOMI1,Hideyo SHIMADA2, Hidetsugu SAITO1, Emi NAKASHIMA1(Accepted: March, 28, 2016)

Abstract
There is growing evidence that aromatherapy can improve patients stress and refreshment levels. Also, an explanation
to patients of the anticipated pharmacological effects of drugs may serve to improve compliance and to enhance subjective
treatment beneﬁt. Here, we aimed to examine the effectiveness of counseling as a means of improving the stress-reducing efﬁcacy of bergamot oil and the concentration-improving effect of rosemary oil in 23 healthy young women. Efﬁcacy wasevaluated by using a self-reported questionnaire and multi-dimensional fatigue inventory-20 (MFI-20) as subjective indicators, together with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)-evaluated blood ﬂow in the inferior frontal cortex and amylase concentration in saliva as objective indicators. Counseling combined with bergamot aromatherapy signiﬁcantly improved physicalfatigue and mental fatigue and also improved sleepiness, concentration, and activity (p＜0.01, p＜0.05). Counseling combined with rosemary aromatherapy signiﬁcantly improved motivation (p＜0.05). Regional blood ﬂow in the inferior frontal
cortex was decreased totally. Especially partial right ﬁeld of the prefrontal cortex area was decreased signiﬁcantly by exposure to bergamot oil with counseling. By contrast, rosemary oil with counseling was decreased signiﬁcantly in partial left ofthe prefrontal cortex area. Interestingly, we found that levels of salivary amylase (a sensitive biological marker of stress)
were increased by counseling in subjects with low scores for resilience (capacity of individuals to resist stress). This ﬁnding
may indicate that counseling was stressful to these subjects. Overall, our results indicate that counseling intervention increased the effectiveness of aromatherapy. Focused counseling taking account of behavioral differences between individuals
may be a promising strategy to maximize patients beneﬁt.
Key words:
1.

aromatherapy, clinical study, inﬂuence of counseling, blood ﬂow in interior frontal cortex, resilience.

IntroductionCounseling patients about the expected efﬁcacy of treatments may improve the outcome, because individuals may
modify or improve an aspect of their behavior in response to
their awareness of being observed — the so-called Hawthorne
effect1). However, to evaluate the effectiveness of counseling,
it is desirable to use objective rather than subjective measures.
One way to do this is to examine blood ﬂow changes in theprefrontal area of the brain noninvasively by using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)2). In previous work, we showed that
aromatherapy improves subjective indicators such as moodand motivation3), and we also found that counseling enhances
the effect of a revitalizing drink4) .
Here, we aimed to examine the effects of aromatherapy using both subjective indicators (a self-reported questionnaire
and the multi-dimensional fatigue inventory-20, MFI-20) andobjective indicators (changes in cerebral blood ﬂow evaluatedby NIRS and salivary amylase level as a measure of stress).
We also examined the effectiveness of counseling as a meansof improving the stress-reducing efﬁcacy of bergamot oil and* Faculty of Pharmacy, Keio University (1–5–30, Shibakoen, Minato-1,ku, Tokyo 105–8512, Japan)
連絡先 E-mail: isawa-mn@pha.keio.ac.jp

the concentration-improving effect of rosemary oil. In addition, we examined whether inter-individual differences in response to counseling might be related to differences in subjects resilience, which may reﬂect capacity to achieve selfimposed targets 5).
This study was approved by the Keio University Faculty of
Pharmacy Medical Ethics Board (permission number 1412022), and was registered at University Hospital Medical Information Network (http://www.umin.ac.jp), registration number
UMIN000022249.
2.

Methods

2–1. Aroma oil
Citrus bergamia ( Seikatsu no Ki , Lot No. 5) and Rosmarinus ofﬁcinalis ( Seikatsu no Ki , Lot No. 54) were used as
bergamot oil and rosemary oil. Six drops of oil were added to
80 ml of water (4％ solution), and the solutions were placed indiffusers (Aroma delight, YCHO-JIN). A diffuser was run in
the test room (size 73.1 m2) during the trial.

2

Shimada Clinic