Effects of cinnamon oil on brain function

Cinnamon is a traditional herb that is widely used in health care and traditional medicine. Moreover, it was claimed to reduce stress. However, brain function research of this oil is still in its early phases. Therefore, the effects of cinnamon oil on brain activity were the focus of this study. In this study, ten participants were included. EEG and ECG were recorded during distilled water, lavender oil, and cinnamon oil inhalation. Each inhalation was followed by 3 minutes of open eyes and 3 minutes of closed eyes, respectively. At the end of the experiment, participants had to fill out a satisfaction questionnaire about the scents of each essential oil. In addition, GC-MS was used to analyze essential oil compositions. The main component of cinnamon oil is cinnamaldehyde, while that of lavender oil is linalyl acetate. The result of brain activities showed that beta frequency significantly decreased during cinnamon oil inhalation with eyes closed. Furthermore, both lavender oil and cinnamon oil inhalation tend to increase when compared with the distilled water inhalation group. Moreover, ECG can be linked to heart rate variability (HRV), and the results did not show a significant difference between groups. Overall satisfaction revealed that participants liked the scent of lavender more than cinnamon oil. According to this finding, cinnamon oil reduced beta frequency but did not affect on HRV. Therefore, cinnamon oil may produce an anxiolytic effect on brain function due to the decrease of beta wave.