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Chemical Senses Advance Access published online on November 16, 2009
Chemical Senses, doi:10.1093/chemse/bjp079
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The Influence of Odorants on Respiratory Patterns in Sleep

Anat Arzi1, Lee Sela1, Amit Green2, Gili Givaty2, Yaron Dagan2 and Noam Sobel1

1 Department of Neurobiology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Arison Building, Rehovot 76100, Israel 2 Sleep Medicine Institute, Assuta Medical Centers, Tel Aviv, Israel

Correspondence to be sent to: Anat Arzi, Department of Neurobiology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Arison Building, Rehovot 76100, Israel. e-mail: anat.arzi{at}weizmann.ac.il


  Abstract

To assess the feasibility of using odors as a potential mechanism for treating sleep apnea, we set out to test the hypothesis that odorants delivered during sleep would modify respiratory patterns without inducing arousal or wake in healthy sleepers. We used 2 mildly trigeminal odorants: the pleasant lavender and unpleasant vetiver oil and 2 pure olfactory odorants: the pleasant vanillin and unpleasant ammonium sulfide. During sleep, an olfactometer delivered a transient odorant every 9,12, or 15 min (randomized), providing 21–37 odorant presentations per night. Each of 36 participants was studied for 1 night and with 1 of the 4 different odorants tested. In addition to standard overnight polysomnography, we employed highly accurate measurements of nasal and oral respiration. Odorants did not increase the frequency of arousals or wake but did influence respiration. Specifically, all 4 odorants transiently decreased inhalation and increased exhalation for up to 6 breaths following odor onset. This effect persisted regardless of odorant valence or stage of sleep. These results suggest that the olfactory system may provide a path to manipulate respiration in sleep.

Key words: apnea, olfaction, sleep

Anat Arzi and Lee Sela have contributed equally to this work.

Accepted 5 October 2009


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