Effect of odors from coniferous woods on contingent negative variation (CNV)
Terauchi Fumio; Kubo Mitsunori; Ohgama Toshimasa; Aoki Hiroyuki
Abstract:In order to clarify the effect of odors of seven coniferous woods on human, contingent negative variation (CNV) and electroencephalogram (EEG) were measured. Four of the species used, hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa), sugi (Cryptomeria japonica), akamatsu (Pinus densiflora), and hiba (Thujopsis dolabrata var. hondai), were grown in Japan, and three of them, Alaska cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and western red cedar (Thuja plicata), were grown in the United States. The concentrations of their wood odors were analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography. The total concentration of monoterpene hydrocarbon in the wood odors was held to less than 3ppb. The amplitudes of early components of CNV and the a/b wave ratio of EEG at the frontal (Fz) and central (Cz) regions between in the presence and absence of wood odors were compared. 5 male and 5 female volunteers ranging in age from 20 to 26 were examined. The result obtained are summarized as follows: