Park Seungchan, Kim Jiheon, Kim Hansol, Kim Do Hoon
Mind-Neuromodulation Laboratory, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea.
Department of Psychiatry, Hallym University Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Chuncheon, Korea.
Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci. 2025 Feb 28;23(1):42-52. doi: 10.9758/cpn.24.1157. Epub 2024 Mar 15.
: Several studies have reported the therapeutic effects of phytoncides on various mental disorders. However, little is known about the therapeutic effects of phytoncides on mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a prodromal stage of dementia. In this pilot study, we aimed to clarify the effect of inhaled phytoncides on the cognitive function of patients clinically diagnosed with MCI.
: In total, 21 patients with MCI were randomly assigned to either a saline (no-odor) or phytoncide group and subsequently inhaled saline or phytoncide for 30 minutes indoors, respectively. To evaluate changes in cognitive function, we implemented functional near-infrared spectroscopy along with the Stroop task and compared task performance and hemodynamic responses in the dorsolateral/ventrolateral part of the prefrontal cortex (DLPFC/VLPFC) before and after inhalation.
: While the saline group showed no significant difference in either task performance (Wilcoxon = 18.50, = 0.385) or hemodynamic response, a significant increase in Stroop task performance (Wilcoxon = 1.50, = 0.009) and hemodynamic attenuation in the left VLPFC (Wilcoxon = 56.00, = 0.042) were found in the phytoncide group after inhalation.
: Since compensatory task-related prefrontal hyperactivation represents one of the neural indicators of cognitive dysfunction in MCI, our findings shed light on the beneficial effects of phytoncide on cognitive function in MCI.
多项研究报告了植物杀菌素对各种精神障碍的治疗效果。然而，关于植物杀菌素对轻度认知障碍（MCI，痴呆的前驱阶段）的治疗效果知之甚少。在这项试点研究中，我们旨在阐明吸入植物杀菌素对临床诊断为MCI的患者认知功能的影响。
总共21名MCI患者被随机分配到生理盐水（无气味）组或植物杀菌素组，随后分别在室内吸入生理盐水或植物杀菌素30分钟。为了评估认知功能的变化，我们采用功能近红外光谱技术结合Stroop任务，并比较了吸入前后前额叶背外侧/腹外侧部分（DLPFC/VLPFC）的任务表现和血流动力学反应。
生理盐水组在任务表现（Wilcoxon = 18.50，P = 0.385）或血流动力学反应方面均无显著差异，而植物杀菌素组在吸入后，Stroop任务表现显著提高（Wilcoxon = 1.50，P = 0.009），左侧VLPFC的血流动力学衰减（Wilcoxon = 56.00，P = 0.042）。
由于与任务相关的前额叶过度激活是MCI认知功能障碍的神经指标之一，我们的研究结果揭示了植物杀菌素对MCI认知功能的有益影响。
