In a first-ever study to examine adult-infant neural coupling and characterize its causal architecture, mutual direct gaze was seen to increase adult-infant neural coupling during social communication. Learning requires an individual’s full attention to retain the information being passed along. Attention sharing between people, through verbal spoken communication and nonverbal cues like eye gaze, is known to increase learning as it strengthens the attention amongst the individuals. Nonverbal cues are especially important in infant learning as they rely on them to learn meaning and intention. Little is known, however, about the cognitive processes behind this increased attention and predicting communication success. Victoria Leong, Elizabeth Byrne, Kaili Clackson, Sarah Lam and Sam Wass sought to understand whether gaze during spoken communication influences neural coupling, which would indicate communication success amongst adult and infant pairings. The experiment enlisted twenty-nine infants–fifteen males, and fourteen female–all around eight (8) months old, who interacted with one female adult experimenter. The adult experimenter addressed each infant one at a time and sang nursery rhymes that were familiar (sung at home by parents). The experimenter sang the nursery rhymes in two gaze conditions to each infant, either direct (gaze at infant) or indirect (gaze to the side of infant). EEG was recorded during the nursery rhyme procedure using BioNomadix wireless EEG amplifiers, connected to a MP160 research system. Teh wireless EEG setup was chosen to increase infant comfort and reduce distraction. The results confirmed the experimenters’ hypothesis as directional connectivity between adults and infants was higher during the directional gaze periods compared to the indirect gaze periods. Leong, et al also found that infants influenced adults more, rather than the other way around, over Alpha and Beta neural bands. This study provides a base for which other research can further investigate neural coupling’s effects in learning and other parts of social behavior beyond communication between infants and adults.
Stress has negative effects on the health of the body and the health of economies. When a person is feeling stress, the body releases certain chemicals that lower the immune system, increasing the likelihood that illnesses will form in the body. Stress can also cause negative effects in the workplace, as when workers take time off and seek treatment, the companies they work for lose money as well. The Mental Health Foundation estimates that around 12 million adults living in the United Kingdom visit their General Practitioner every year with concerns of their mental health that have been brought on by stress. Due to these illnesses, an estimated 13.3 million work days are lost every year. The World Health Organization estimates that around 8.4 million GBP (10.5 million USD) are lost by UK businesses due to these health concerns. Moreover, the average wait time to get treatment is 3-6 months. Because of these factors, over the last decade studies performed on stress and mental health have increased in popularity.
Researchers, Mozos, Oscar Martinez, et al. aimed to detect stressful behaviors by having their participants wear noninvasive physiological monitoring systems to find what activities elicited stress. These experiments were performed in a laboratory setting, using the TSST (Tier Social Stress Test) to manage levels of anxiety in each participant in a controlled situation; this popular method was used in over 4,000 settings over the last decade. The total sample size the researchers used was 18, male and female volunteers from the School of Psychology at the University of Lincoln in the UK.
The social task presented was for the subject to prepare a presentation for a mock job interview, and tasked to speak continuously for five minutes. When subjects paused the first time, the experimenter would tell them their remaining time and ask them to continue. The second time the participant paused they would be asked a set of predefined interview questions. For the cognition task, the experimenter asked the participant to count down from 1022 in sets of 13, for five minutes. If the participant made a mistake, they were asked to start from 1022 again.
Using the wearable, dual-signal BioNomadix, researchers wirelessly recorded electrodermal activity (EDA) and pulse plethysmograms (PPG), then analyzed the data to gather the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) between different tasks the subjects were doing, and extrapolate the stress the subjects were feeling in those conditions. The goal of the researchers was to show that using wearable monitoring systems can help detect stress, and with variations, can be applied outside of the lab, and into everyday interactions to get a firmer grip on what is causing anxiety and stress in millions of people.
Cardiovascular risk factors (obesity, metabolism, hypertension, etc.) can significantly impact a person’s lifespan. While obesity rates are currently stagnant, they still remain very high. Cardiovascular risk factors have thus become the focus of health research to understand what behaviors might contribute to increased risk. The majority of these studies have been aimed specifically at adults, but little is understood about the origins of these risk factors in childhood. Laurie Wideman, et al thus sought to create a longitudinal study that investigated social and emotional development, called the RIGHT Track Health Study. The RIGHT track study followed participants from infancy to young adult to understand how their self-regulation and increased autonomy via their health behaviors might contribute to cardiovascular risks factors. Participants were measured at five ages: two, four, five, seven, and ten. Participants performed a variety of assessments including body composition, fitness tests, orthostatic challenge (while having heart rate variability recorded), 7-day accelerometry for physical activity and sleep, 24-hour dietary recalls, and blood analysis for various related biomarkers. Researchers also had participants complete extensive self-report measures related to diet, sleep, physical activity, and medical history. Heart rate variability (HRV) was measured using BIOPAC’s dual-channel BioNomadix wireless ECG and Respiration transmitter while participants performed the orthostatic challenge. Heart rate variability measured from the orthostatic challenge was compared to HRV collected during the early years of the study where the infants underwent psychological stressors. Through their RIGHT track health study, the researchers were able to provide valuable about the influence of childhood regulatory abilities on youth healthcare. The researchers hope that their findings will help illuminate potential critical “windows,” or specific points in childhood where people may be more at risk. Assessing when these windows occur could help greatly reduce certain risk factors and help our understanding of how to prevent chronic disease earlier in life.
One of the foundational concepts making virtual reality (VR) video games of high interest is the game’s ability to transport the user to a flow state. The visual and auditory stimuli presented are highly immersive, leading the user to focus entirely on the game, often losing track of time. Flow states are characterized by this lack of time awareness, as participants are able to match their abilities with the demands of the game (i.e., the game is not too easy or too hard). But what qualities reflect a flow state as it is happening in the moment?
Researchers from Shandong University tested five first-level physiological functions to determine their efficacy in reflecting a flow state, including EMG, EDA, EEG, respiratory rate, and cardiovascular activity. Thirty-six students participated in a VR game while having their physiological responses monitored. Prior to the experiment, the researchers placed BIOPAC’s wearable dual-signal BioNomadix transmitters with appropriate electrodes on the participants to wirelessly record Respiration and ECG data. Participants were then seated in the designated gaming chair for five minutes to record baseline responses. After this, they played the game for six minutes, followed by a questionnaire about flow experience. The results showed that the five physiological functions, as a whole, indicated flow state, though respiratory rate was most effective. The authors note that, as a physiologic arousal marker, respiratory rate best predicted flow state.
Having physiologic indicators of a flow state not only assists future research, but also provides a method for real-time feedback on the efficacy of the game. The authors note that with better biometric data comes the opportunity to provide a better gaming experience, with real-time adjustments. If the physiologic responses and adjustments could be integrated with the gaming software, games would be far more realistic.
