睡眠中間斷撥放芳香刺激能有效增加睡眠品質

Abstract

過去研究已證實在睡前給予適時的精油撥放能夠有效放鬆身心進而提升睡眠品質，但此睡眠品質的提升可能是緣由於使用者預期心理因素所造成。近年來研究發現在睡眠過程中大腦的嗅覺功能仍在持續運作，以及在睡眠過程中良好的嗅覺刺激也會促進活化大腦功能。因此在使用者未知的情況下給予精油刺激，為較合適的方式驗證睡眠品質是否因為精油刺激有所提升。在氣味方面，薰衣草在芳香精油療法中普遍被用來治療失眠及改善睡眠品質，且被驗證薰衣草有益於睡眠。因此本研究選擇薰衣草精油做為實驗中的嗅覺刺激，在睡眠過程中給予薰衣草精油刺激，利用睡眠問卷以及睡眠生理訊號，對受測者進行主觀和客觀睡眠品質評估，進一步研究薰衣草精油對睡眠大腦的影響。 實驗結果發現在受測者自我評估問卷部分，睡眠安穩度有顯著增加而睡眠擾動度有顯著下降；在睡眠階段分布顯示，精油撥放對整體深層睡眠比例與時間都有顯著的增加。在腦波分析上，觀察到代表深層睡眠δ波(0-4 Hz)在深層睡眠的能量因為精油刺激有顯著加強；且在清醒期階段上，代表清醒的α頻帶(8-13 Hz)和β頻帶(15-30 Hz)的能量都有明顯的顯著減弱。由此可推論出，在睡眠中施放薰衣草精油不但能改善主觀的睡眠品質，更能有效加強相對應睡眠腦波頻帶能量，進而增加深層睡眠的程度和時間，減少睡眠清醒期的程度和時間。

Past studies have proven that aromatherapy before sleep can help people relax, and thus effectively improving the sleep quality. However, subjects might claim to have experienced an improved quality of sleep, if they are aware of the aromatherapy taking place. Previous studies revealed that the olfactory system still works during sleep, and is the only human sense that bypasses the thalamus, which controls the function between sleep and wake. Hence, presenting aroma stimulus during sleep is an effective way to eliminate the self-psychological biases, and does not make the sleep arousal. In order to understand and evaluate the benefits of the essential oil with the quality of sleep, this study organizes the experiments, with and without discharging the lavender aroma essential oil during sleep, and several physiological signals are recording simultaneously. The sleep questionnaires are given before and after experimental night to assess the self-reported sleep quality. The self-reported sleep quality at the experimental night has a significant improvement in the terms of less sleep disturbance and sleep well. The ratio and length of slow wave sleep (SWS) at the experimental night also has the significant increase. The results from the EEG power spectrum activities show the large delta power (0-4 Hz) in non-rapid eye movement stage 3, in contract, the less alpha power (8-13 Hz) and beta power (15-30 Hz) in wake stage at experimental night. In conclusion, this study suggests that exposing the lavender aroma essential oil during sleep not only effectively improve the sleep quality in self-report, but enhance the deep sleep related EEG power activity during sleep, and thus increase both degree and duration of deep sleep and less the length of awake.