Penggunaan Aromaterapi terhadap Sustained Attention Mahasiswa

Abstract. Digital-age students struggle to maintain sustained attention due to excessive exposure to content and gadget use. Aromatherapy, olfactory stimulation with essential oils, has emerged as a promising cognitive neuropsychological intervention. This article reviews the potential of aromatherapy in enhancing sustained attention among students through a literature review. Literature from Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed, and SINTA discussing aromatherapy interventions on human attention functions was collected. The results of the literature review on the articles indicate that essential oils such as rosemary, lavender, lemongrass, and peppermint have the potential to enhance alertness, accelerate reaction time, and reduce errors in attention tasks such as SART or CPT. Neurophysiologically, an increase in beta waves and ERP P300 responses was observed after aroma exposure. However, effectiveness varies depending on aroma intensity, personal preferences, and psychological conditions. The discussion emphasizes the olfactory pathway's direct influence on the limbic system and prefrontal cortex, as well as the importance of individualizing interventions. It is concluded that aromatherapy has potential as a non-pharmacological intervention for sustained attention in students, but further experimental research is needed in a local context using objective measurement tools such as EEG. Abstrak. Mahasiswa era digital kesulitan mempertahankan sustained attention karena paparan konten dan penggunaan gadget berlebihan. Aromaterapi, stimulasi olfaktori dengan minyak esensial, muncul sebagai intervensi neuropsikologi kognitif yang menjanjikan. Artikel ini meninjau potensi aromaterapi dalam meningkatkan sustained attention mahasiswa melalui studi kepustakaan. Literatur dari Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed, dan SINTA yang membahas intervensi aromaterapi pada fungsi atensi manusia dikumpulkan. Hasil studi literatur pada artikel-artikel menunjukkan minyak esensial seperti rosemary, lavender, sereh dan peppermint berpotensi meningkatkan kewaspadaan, mempercepat waktu reaksi, dan mengurangi kesalahan dalam tugas atensi seperti SART atau CPT. Secara neurofisiologis, teramati peningkatan gelombang beta dan respons ERP P300 setelah paparan aroma. Namun, efektivitas bervariasi tergantung intensitas aroma, preferensi pribadi, dan kondisi psikologis. Pembahasan menekankan jalur olfaktori yang langsung memengaruhi sistem limbik dan korteks prefrontal, serta pentingnya individualisasi intervensi. Disimpulkan, aromaterapi berpotensi sebagai intervensi non-farmakologis untuk sustained attention mahasiswa, namun membutuhkan penelitian eksperimental lebih lanjut di konteks lokal dengan alat ukur objektif seperti EEG.