Cardiometric detection of effects and patterns of emotional responses by a human individual to verbal, audial and visual stimuli

Aims

The article presents the results of an experimental study of the cardiometric detection of a person’s emotional reactions to verbal, audial and visual stimuli.

Materials and methods

To test the hypothesis of our study, we carried out a series of experiments in which two groups of stimuli have been used purposefully, one of which had to cause sthenic and the other asthenic reactions in our examinees. In order to activate various types of sensory systems, only stimuli of the audial modality (the A-type stimuli), only visual modality (the V-type stimuli), and also stimuli with a combination of audiovisual modalities (the VА -type stimuli) have been included in each group. In addition, as stimuli, we prepared a list of imaginary situations (the I-type stimuli) to initiate either sthenic or asthenic emotional reactions in the examinees. For the cardiological data recording and subsequent assessment of HRV, we used the Cardiocode PC-assisted hemodynamic analyzer. Portable eyetracker GP-3 has been employed to record the examinees’ oculomotor reactions to visual stimuli.

Results

As a result of the study, it has been identified that the Baevsky stress index (SI) values, which are higher than the average values, can be considered as a fingerprint of a sthenic reaction to a stimulus, and the reduced SI value can be considered as a marker of an asthenic reaction to a stimulus. In addition, the data obtained confirm a more efficient use of the SI indicators in comparison with the heart rate parameters in assessing the nature of a human individual’s emotional reactions. Oculographic manifestations of a moderate response to the presented visual stimuli may be the preferential fixation of respondents' gaze at the yellow, green and blue colors from the eight-color Lüscher test. The asthenic nature of the response is most often combined with an involuntary gaze fixation at grey, black and brown colors of the Lüscher test. The pronounced sthenic reaction is most often indicated by the involuntary gaze fixation at red and yellow, red and black, red and brown, yellow and brown, observed when one visual stimulus being exposed, with marked ignorance of blue and gray.

Conclusion

Consequently, our experiments confirm our main hypothesis that the increased Baevsky stress index values, in comparison to the average values, can be considered as a fingerprint of the sthenic response to a stimulus, and the reduced SI value can be considered as a marker of the asthenic one.

Imprint

Aleksandr S. Ognev, Vladimir А. Zernov, Elvira V. Likhacheva, Lyubov P. Nikolaeva, Mikhail Y. Rudenko, Diana D. Dymarchuk, Denis S. Yesenin, Polina А. Maslennikova, Nikita V. Mizin. Cardiometric detection of effects and patterns of emotional responses by a human individual to verbal, audial and visual stimuli. Cardiometry; Issue 14; May 2019; p.79-86; DOI: 10.12710/cardiomet­ry.2019.14.7986; Available from: http://www.cardiometry.net/issues/no14-may-2019/cardiometric-detection