Previous work in this lab examining the effects of lavender inhalation and pain perception in the rat found that lavandula angustifolia produced significant hyperalgesia in the formalin test but not in the tailflick test (SFN abstract, 1998). The present studies continue this line of investigation. Two of the main components of lavender oil, linalool and linalyl acetate, were administered (inhalation) to rats to examine the impact of these chemicals on pain responsivity. Initial results suggest that in comparison to subjects exposed to apricot oil (carrier oil) in the formalin test, for subjects given long term exposure (i.e., where the chemical is present for a one-hour pretest period during which the subject is acclimated to the testing apparatus, and remains present throughout the testing session), linalool or linalyl acetate may have an analgesic effect, whereas short term (where the chemical is only present for the testing session time period post-formalin injection) exposure may have a hyperalgesic e...