A novel method to regulate negative emotions by odors and evaluate the effect by EEG signals

People's emotional appearance differs due to national, cultural, geographical and educational backgrounds. Few studies have examined the impact of odors to regulate negative emotion for the Asian. In this research, we evaluate EEG signals to demonstrate the impact of odors to regulate negative emotion for Asians. The results show that, during the tension, both FA groups witness a significant increase and beta wave average power spectrum (T8) experienced a slight reduction caused by lavender odor. However, both citrus and peppermint odors cause a significant increase in FA groups and beta wave average power spectrum (T7 and T8). During the depression, the citrus and mint odors cause a more significant increase in positive FA and beta wave average power spectrum (T7) , while the lavender treatment has no significant effect. For the tension-anxiety (T/A) and depression-dejection (D/D), both FA groups get a lower score after odor treatment but not all reach a statistical significance. Both EEG and POMS data suggests that lavender odor produces a higher valance and a lower arousal which indicates that the lavender odor has a better effect on relieving tension. While the citrus and mint odors produce a higher valance and arousal of emotion which indicates that these two odors have a greater effect on mitigating depression.