Investigation of the emotional effect of the Datura stramonium (Atse-faris) seed using EEG signal

Abstract

Traditional medicine is part of the traditions of a country, employing healing practices handed down from generation to generation. The use of traditional medicine is acceptable due to the cultural acceptability of healers, the relatively low cost of traditional medicine, and difficult access to modern health facilities. Thus, traditional medicine remains popular for both historical and cultural reasons. Datura stramonium is one of the widely well-known folklore medicinal herbs with a broad range of medicinal applications. All parts of the Datura stramonium have traditionally been utilized in Ethiopia treating various kinds of medicinal purposes, with the seed being mostly employed for mental illness. However, the Datura stramonium seed effect on brain activity has not been studied yet. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate the emotional effect of the Datura stramonium seed on a mentally healthy subject using EEG signal analysis. Subjects of age 23±3 were screened based on their GHQ-12 score to confirm mental health. EEG signals were recorded for 3 minutes in eye-closed condition from 18 subjects (12 pre - and post-inhaling sessions, and 6 controls without inhaling) to investigate the emotional effect of inhaling Datura stramonium seed on brain activity. EEGLAB and MNE-Python software were used for pre-processing, segmentation, and feature extraction. Welch„s method was applied to extract mean power (µV2) for each band (Delta, Theta, Alpha, and Beta) at Temporal (T3, T5 & T4, T6), Parietal (P3 & P4), Frontal (F3, F7 & F4, F8), Occipital (O1 & O2), Central (C3 & C4), Midline (Fz, Cz, Pz) and Prefrontal cortex (Fp1& Fp2) parts of the brain. Then a paired T-test was done at a 0.05 confidence level (P) to determine any significant change before versus after Datura stimuli, before stimuli versus control, and after stimuli versus control in each band mean power. The results showed an increased Alpha mean power at a comparison of before stimuli with after and control. A statistically significant change (p<0.05) was observed alpha mean in all subjects. According to related literature, a statistical increase in alpha power, as well as more scattering in MNE GUI-based analysis, is linked to inducing a relaxing feeling in subjects. The finding provided evidence of the relaxing effect of Datura stramonium seed.