Appreciated and Easy-to-use Tools for Psychophysiological Research

Hemodynamic parameters such as continuous noninvasive arterial pressure (e.g. with CNAP^® blood pressure) and noninvasive cardiac output (e.g. with CNAP^®CO or Impedance Cardiography) as well as vascular resistance and autonomic parameters are crucial markers to assess psychophysiological states.

A lot of these psychophysiological studies have been performed with the NiBP100D by BIOPAC Systems Inc., a partner solution and perfect synergy of the easy-to-use CNAP^®Monitor and the intelligent AcqKnowledge^® data acquisition software by BIOPAC. Read more...

Reactions of human body to challenge and threat

One of the BIOPAC studies found out that challenge (positive stress) and threat (negative stress) have different impact on the cardiovascular system. Changes in Cardiac Output and Total Peripheral Resistance help differentiating between these conditions^3,4:

Cardiac Output: Challenge and Threat Model

This could also be shown by a study performed with the CNAP^® Monitor. Cornick et al. (2015) from the University of California in Santa Barbara investigated the cardiovascular consequences of exercise in obese subjects in a stressful environment. Cardiovascular and self-report measures were recorded. Findings indicated that those who are more self-aware showed cardiovascular response patterns indicative of threat⁵. Read more...

Cardiovascular reaction to muscle contraction

Steadiness of muscle contractions was studied in young and old adults during high and low cognitive demand tasks. Pereira et al. from Marquette University, Milwaukee, USA monitored blood pressure and heart rate before and during contractions with the automated Biopac NIBP 100D system (beat-by-beat blood pressure system coupled with the MP150 data acquisition system). Older adults were less steady (greater amplitude of force fluctuations) than young for the elbow flexor muscles under control conditions and this was amplified up to fivefold with high cognitive demand superimposed, especially at very low levels of contraction.⁶ Read more...

Quantification of emotional response

Sanchez-Gonzalez et al. (2015) evaluated the the cardiovascular reactivity to anxiety in young and middle-aged individuals by utilizing the Biopac NIBP 100D system. Varying anxiety scores were used to test the hypothesis that anxiety mimics cardiovascular aging by influencing cardiovascular autonomic modulation. A variety of parameters including heart rate, blood pressure (BP) and their variability (HRV and BPV, respectively) and baroreflex function were analyzed from beat-to-beat finger BP. The results suggest that anxiety could be linked to cardiovascular aging as it attenuates cardiac reactivity and exaggerates vascular responses to stress.⁷ Read more...

Another BIOPAC study at Pitzer College, California by Noble et al. assessed the effects of mainstream media on women‘s physiological and psychological functioning⁸. Read more...

The Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory studied the detection of deception by use of continuous blood pressure⁹. Read more...

Interaction of hemodynamics and brain activity

The Institute for Knowledge Discovery from Graz, Austria studied the influence of slow blood pressure oscillations on self-paced movements. "Free will" is not only brain directed but also a matter of blood pressure¹⁰. Read more...

Perception of humor

Lackner et al. investigated the cardiovascular response to the perception of humor with the Task Force^® Monitor¹¹. Read more...

Unity of body and mind

Demonstrating the interaction between body and mind, Trapp et al. investigated the effects of mild hypobaric hypoxia exposure on blood pressure and Pulse pressure reactivity to mental and physical stress and to passive elevation by cable car to 2700m above sea level. A study with Task Force^® Monitor and CNAP^® Monitor.¹² Read more...

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Mental Health

The Task Force^® Monitor technology has also been used effectively to identify autonomic dysfunction in different mental diseases and conditions, including burnout, depression, alcohol withdrawal, etc. Read more...

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References:

1 Jeleazcov et al.(2010). Precision and accuracy of a new device (CNAP) for continuous noninvasive arterial pressure monitoring: assessment during general anaesthesia. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 105(3):264–72.

2 Wagner, J. Y. et al. Continuous noninvasive cardiac output determination using the CNAP system: evaluation of a cardiac output algorithm for the analysis of volume clamp method-derived pulse contour. Journal of ClinicalMonitoring and Computing. doi:10.1007/s10877-015-9744-1 (2015).

3 Kirby, L. D., & Wright, R. A. (2003). Cardiovascular correlates of challenge and threat appraisals: A critical examination of the Biopsychosocial Analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 7, 216-233.

4 Tomaka, J., Blascovich, J., Kelsey, R. M., & Leitten, C. L. (1993). Subjective, physiological, and behavioral effects of threat and challenge appraisal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 248-260.

5 Cornick, J. E., & Blascovich, J. (2015). Consequences of objective self-awareness during exercise. Health Psychology Open, 2(2), 2055102915598088. doi:10.1177/2055102915598088

6 Pereira, H. M., Spears, V. C., Schlinder-Delap, B., Yoon, T., Nielson, K. A., & Hunter, S. K. (2015). Age and sex differences in steadiness of elbow flexor muscles with imposed cognitive demand. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 115(6), 1367–79. doi:10.1007/s00421-015-3113-0

7 Sanchez-Gonzalez, M. A., Guzik, P., May, R. W., Koutnik, A. P., Hughes, R., Muniz, S., … Fincham, F. D. (2015). Trait anxiety mimics age-related cardiovascular autonomic modulation in young adults. Journal of Human Hypertension, 29(4), 274–80. doi:10.1038/jhh.2014.72

8 Noble, M., The Effect of Mainstream Media on Body Image and Stress Reactivity in Latina Females.Pitzer Senior Theses. Paper 23 (2012).

9 Taylor, M. K., Horning, D. S., Chandler, J. F., Phillips, J. B., Khosravi, J. Y., Bennett, J. E., … Gao, H. (2011). A Comparison of Approaches To Detect Deception. Technical Report, Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, (11).

10 Pfurtscheller, G., Ortner, R., Bauernfeind, G., Linortner, P., & Neuper, C. (2010). Does conscious intention to perform a motor act depend on slow cardiovascular rhythms? Neuroscience Letters, 468(1), 46–50.

11 Lackner, H. K., Weiss, E. M., Schulter, G., Hinghofer-Szalkay, H., Samson, A. C., & Papousek, I. (2013). I got it! Transient Cardiovascular Response to the Perception of Humor. Biological Psychology, 93, 33–40.

12 Trapp, M., Trapp, E.-M., Egger, J. W., Domej, W., Schillaci, G., Avian, A., … Baulmann, J. (2014). Impact of Mental and Physical Stress on Blood Pressure and Pulse Pressure under Normobaric versus Hypoxic Conditions. PLoS ONE, 9(5), e89005. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0089005