scholarly journals Recognition of Stress Activation by Unobtrusive Multi Sensing Setup

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 6381
Author(s):  
Veronica Chiara Zuccalà ◽  
Riccardo Favilla ◽  
Giuseppe Coppini

It is recognized that stress conditions play an important role in the definition of individual wellness and represent a major risk factor for most non-communicable diseases. Most studies focus on the evaluation of response to maximal stress conditions while a few of them reports results about the detection/monitoring of response to mild stimulations. In this study, we investigate the capability of some physiological signs and indicators (including Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability, Respiratory Rate, Galvanic Skin Response) to recognize stress in response to moderate cognitive activation in daily life settings. To achieve this goal, we built up an unobtrusive platform to collect signals from healthy volunteers (10 subjects) undergoing cognitive activation via Stroop Color Word Test. We integrated our dataset with data from the Stress Recognition in the Automobile Drivers dataset. Following data harmonization, signal recordings in both datasets were split into five-minute blocks and a set of 12 features was extracted from each block. A feature selection was implemented by two complementary approaches: Sequential Forward Feature Selection (SFFS) and Auto-Encoder (AE) neural networks. Finally, we explored the use of Self-Organizing Map (SOM) to provide a flexible representation of an individual status. From the initial feature set we have determined, by SFFS analysis, that 2 of them (median Respiratory Rate and number peaks in Galvanic Skin Response signals) can discriminate activation statuses from resting ones. In addition, AE experiments also support that two features can suffice for recognition. Finally, we showed that SOM can provide a comprehensive but compact description of activation statuses allowing a fine prototypical representation of individual status.

Author(s):  
W.B.P.N. Herath ◽  
R.A.K.I. Ranasinghe ◽  
M.P.C. Sandaru ◽  
I.A.S. Lakmali ◽  
A.G.N.K. Aluthgama ◽  
...  

Addressing the emotional and mental health of the bedridden elderly is necessary as they are more likely to be depressed being isolated and dependent on a caregiver for a prolonged time. Several studies have been carried out to identify the mental stress of patients through their skin conductivity. The variations in the sympathetic nervous system reflect the emotional state of a person. This is demonstrated by the Galvanic Skin Response and thus can be used as a denotation of psychological or physiological arousal. Such arousal causes the blood capillary dilation, increment of sweat gland activities making the skin further conductive to electricity. In this study we develop a sensor module composed of a Galvanic Skin Response sensor for the bed ridden elderly and identify the relationship between body temperature, heart rate and GSR of them. The experiment is conducted upon 10 bed ridden elderly aged from 60 – 80 years of the Mihinthale region. The observations demonstrate a correlation between the heart rate, body temperature, skin conductivity and the human physiological states.


2019 ◽  
pp. 155541201989535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Brady ◽  
Garry Prentice

Loot boxes in video games have blurred the lines between gaming and gambling. Research suggests the thrill from gambling comes from associated increases in physiological arousal not possible monetary gains. Gamers performing microtransactions to purchase loot boxes can lead to similar increases in physiological arousal. However, problematic gamblers no longer receive increases in arousal and become hyposensitive to reward. This hyposensitivity may also be present in problematic gamers. Twenty-five adult male participants took part in the within-participant design experiment measuring heart rate (HR) and galvanic skin response (GSR) while they were gaming and performing a microtransaction. GSR increased from baseline. HR decreased while performing a microtransaction. There was a negative correlation between gaming addiction scores and participants’ physiological arousal. The increases in arousal suggest microtransactions in gaming could potentially lead to problematic levels of use, while hyposensitivity could explain the higher gaming addiction relating to lower arousal during gameplay.


Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (20) ◽  
pp. 4448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Günther Sagl ◽  
Bernd Resch ◽  
Andreas Petutschnig ◽  
Kalliopi Kyriakou ◽  
Michael Liedlgruber ◽  
...  

Wearable sensors are increasingly used in research, as well as for personal and private purposes. A variety of scientific studies are based on physiological measurements from such rather low-cost wearables. That said, how accurate are such measurements compared to measurements from well-calibrated, high-quality laboratory equipment used in psychological and medical research? The answer to this question, undoubtedly impacts the reliability of a study’s results. In this paper, we demonstrate an approach to quantify the accuracy of low-cost wearables in comparison to high-quality laboratory sensors. We therefore developed a benchmark framework for physiological sensors that covers the entire workflow from sensor data acquisition to the computation and interpretation of diverse correlation and similarity metrics. We evaluated this framework based on a study with 18 participants. Each participant was equipped with one high-quality laboratory sensor and two wearables. These three sensors simultaneously measured the physiological parameters such as heart rate and galvanic skin response, while the participant was cycling on an ergometer following a predefined routine. The results of our benchmarking show that cardiovascular parameters (heart rate, inter-beat interval, heart rate variability) yield very high correlations and similarities. Measurement of galvanic skin response, which is a more delicate undertaking, resulted in lower, but still reasonable correlations and similarities. We conclude that the benchmarked wearables provide physiological measurements such as heart rate and inter-beat interval with an accuracy close to that of the professional high-end sensor, but the accuracy varies more for other parameters, such as galvanic skin response.


Author(s):  
Byung-Chan Min ◽  
Soon-Cheol Chung ◽  
Sang-Gyun Kim ◽  
Byung-Woon Min ◽  
Chul-Jung Kim ◽  
...  

The purpose of this study was to compare changes in autonomic responses due to different driving and road conditions. We measured physiological responses of the 10 health subjects such as Heart Rate Variability (HRV), Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) and skin temperature in rest and stimulation conditions. The ratio of LF/HF significantly increased and averaged R-R interval decreased on the abrupt stopping and starting and abruptly curved road conditions, compared to other conditions. Mean value of GSR increased and mean value of skin temperature decreased in the abrupt stopping and starting and abruptly curved road conditions, compared to other conditions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dante Jr. Guanlao Simbulan

Slow breathing exercises, associated with meditation and other eastern style modalities like tai chi and hatha yoga, are now increasingly employed in mainstream medicine to reduce stress, attenuate moderate hypertension, and alleviate symptoms of lifestyle-related illnesses. The clinical literature on slow breathing exercises includes studies employing various physiological measurements, including heart rate variability (HRV), galvanic skin response, and changes in skin temperature. HRV has been increasingly used to measure the activity of the autonomic nervous system in various human studies employing healthy and chronically ill subjects. 1. Objective: To understand the effects of slow breathing exercises on heart rate variability as a complementary intervention for stress reduction. 2. Method: Four subjects, through repetitive trials, were instructed to slow down their breathing following a metronome at 10 breaths per minute or 6 breaths per minute or spontaneously relax to slow down their respiratory rate. The ECG, heart rate, and respiratory rate were recorded using a Powerlab set-up (ADI). 3. Key Results:  Results showed an increase in amplitude of heart rate variability during these slow breathing exercises, either through the metronome-guided or spontaneous slow-breathing exercises, especially around a breathing frequency of 6 breaths per minute. The increased amplitude of heart rate variability can be seen as a positive sign, a marker for sympathovagal balance. 4. Conclusion: HRV measurements have shown that slow breathing exercises can increase heart rate variability.  Future protocols for clinical trials are being projected using the HRV technique and other physiological measurements for studying effects of yoga-based complementary interventions for stress reduction.


Author(s):  
Abner A. Rodríguez-Carías ◽  
José Israel Suárez-Rodríguez ◽  
Jonathan Collazo ◽  
John Fernández-Van Cleve

The objective of this study was to determine physiological parameters (rectal temperature = RT, respiratory rate = RR, heart rate = HR) and production parameters (dry matter intake = DMI, water intake = WI, average daily weight gain = ADG, and feed conversion = FC) of crossbred and Katahdin lambs raised in rotational grazing of native pastures (NP) and in confinement under heat stress conditions. Nine crossbred lambs (average initial weight = 19.4 kg) were used and fed in a rotational grazing system for 70 days with occupation and rest periods of seven and 21 days, respectively. The lambs had daily access to the grazing area for four to six hours, grass hay and water ad libitum, a daily supplement of 100 g of commercial concentrate and a nutritional block. In the confined system, six lambs of the Katahdin breed (average initial weight = 27.3 kg) were used, and for 28 days these were fed total mixed rations (TMR) containing 30% grass hay, 15.4% soybean meal, 54.6% corn grain and a mineral block. The diet contained 14% Crude Protein (CP) and 66% Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) and was formulated for an ADG of 200 g. The offered and rejected feed was quantified every day [4% body weight (BW)/dry matter basis (DMB)] to determine the DMI, and the volume of water offered and rejected to determine WI. To validate the stress conditions, the maximum environmental temperature and relative humidity were monitored to calculate the temperature and humidity index (THI), and the RT, HR and RR of the 15 lambs were determined. The lambs were weighed every seven days. In both experiments, the THI oscillated between 78 and 80. The lambs were under environmental heat stress conditions (THI x̅ = 79) during both studies. The averages of HR and RT in the grazing system were 118.0 beats per minute and 38.6° C, while the averages under the confinement system were 108.6 beats per minute and 39.4° C, respectively. The average RR (53.6 and 62.6 breaths per minute, in grazing and in confinement, respectively) was greater than the normal value considered for thermal comfort. Respiratory rate is the main mechanism used by lambs to dissipate heat. The heart rate also showed slightly higher values than those reported for animals in their comfort zone. However, the rectal temperature values were constant. As expected, crossbred lambs fed under grazing conditions with naturalized pastures (NP) had a low ADG (55.6 g). Nevertheless, Katahdin lambs fed in confinement with TMR had a DMI of 935.4 g/day (3.14% BW/DMB), a WI of 3.5 L/day, a FC of 4.74 and an ADG of 226.2 g. In conclusion, raising crossbred sheep in rotational grazing of NP without any type of agronomic management results in ADG that could not be considered viable in traditional production systems. The introduction of pure breeds and feeding them in confined systems with a TMR results in a pre-determined ADG (>200 g/day) and is an alternative that can be evaluated economically for its practical implementation.


2012 ◽  
pp. 792-802
Author(s):  
G. Shivakumar ◽  
P. A. Vijaya

Emotion is the excited mental state of a person caused by internal and external factors. In this work, a person’s physiological parameters are measured to decide emotional status. A generalized system measures changes occurring in the body of a subject, such as heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, electro-dermal (Galvanic skin resistance) activity, and arm and leg motions. These measurements are then compared with the normal levels of the subject. The present work monitors the physiological parameters by connecting sensors at specific points on a test body. Two physiological parameters are considered: galvanic skin response (GSR) and finger tip temperature (FTT). The heart rate is predominant in deciding the emotion of a person. This system, in conjunction with a certified examiner, is used to analyze a subject’s stress. A system is constructed that measures physiological parameters along with signal conditioning units. These measurements are transmitted to a LabVIEW add-on card for further data processing and analysis. LabVIEW is a graphical programming language that includes all tools necessary for data acquisition, data analysis, and presentation of results. The results obtained are realistic and provide a measure of accuracy.


Biofeedback ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 77-80
Author(s):  
Edson Filho ◽  
André Aroni ◽  
Guilherme Bagni ◽  
Jean Rettig ◽  
Jodie Ellis

Putting is paramount to performance in golf and differentiates low and high achievers in the sport. In the present study, we compared the heart rate, respiration rate, and galvanic skin response for missed and holed putts performed by 13 skilled male golfers from a 12-ft (3.65-m) distance. Contrary to our expectations, no significant effects were observed for heart rate and respiration rate, likely because skilled athletes (a) engage in preperformance routines and are able to control their breathing rhythms, which in turn influence their heart rate; and (b) physiological responses are idiosyncratic, akin to the Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning framework. Congruent with our expectations, we observed a significant effect for galvanic skin response, with higher values observed for missed putts. This effect was robust to individual differences and suggests that biofeedback interventions aimed at enhancing awareness of autonomous physiological responses can be beneficial for performance enhancement in golf putting.


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