**2.3 Lavender**

Lavender oil also has anxiolytic effects in clinical trials in which it can both reduce anxiety associated with stressful event such as surgeries and recovery and also reducing anxiety in anxiety disorders [49–63]. Targets for lavender oil include the 5-HT1A serotonin receptor, the NMDA receptor and the serotonin transporter (SERT) [64, 65]. Linalool, a lavender oil terpene in specific can bind to SERT [64]. In a clinical trial where subjects were subjected to stress, linalool helped to reduce stress as measured by salivary cortisol levels, blood pressure and heart rate [66]. While linalool may be responsible for much of the anxiolytic effects of lavender oil, linalool has not been shown to have neurotrophic activity, however, lavender oil has be shown to increase neurite outgrowth and synapse formation in neuronal cell cultures [67] and increase both BDNF and nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) levels in mouse brain [68]. Activation of NGFR is associated with enhanced TRKA receptor activity in neurons which triggers neurite outgrowth in response to NGF signaling [69, 70].
