Heart rate patterns fluctuate under many conditions. Meditation reduces heart rate while being surprised increases it. Listening to stories also affects heart rate. These changes occur synchronously among people listening individually, not only in groups, indicating cognitive processing of the story affects us on a physiological level separate from relational dynamics. Conversely, narratives do not seem to affect respiratory rate. Heart rate pattern changes also occur in patients suffering from disorders of consciousness when audio narratives are played. These fluctuations could be effective indicators of level of consciousness and provide tools for determining prognosis.
The researchers analyzed electrocardiogram data from four experiments where subjects listened to audio recordings or watched videos. Respiratory patterns were measured in two of the experiments.
In the first experiment, study participants listened to one-minute segments of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” to test whether the narrative affected heart rate fluctuation. In the second experiment, they watched three to five- minute instructional videos. In both experiments, heart rates were synchronized between individuals.
When participants viewed the videos a second time while distracted – they were asked to count backwards – heart rate patterns did not correlate. A third experiment offered children’s stories after which participants were asked to recall character names. When distracting sounds were inserted, their heart rates were less synchronized, and their recall diminished.
A final audio experiment measured heart rates of patients suffering from disorders of consciousness. Heart rate changes of two patients correlated with that of healthy volunteers listening to the same stories. One of these patient’s coma condition was improved after six months.
“The brain is part of the body and not an isolated computer. We want to know how physiology interacts with brain,” said the author.
But the studies show more is at play than physiology.
“People think they react to the world in their particular way. [But] even our hearts react in a very similar way when we listen to short stories. That makes me smile. We’re all human,” said another author.
https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/ccny-biomedical-engineers-lucas-parra-and-jens-madsen-find-listening-recorded-narratives
https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(21)01139-6
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Fconscious-processing-of&filter=22
Conscious processing and heart rate!
- 966 views
- Added
Edited
Latest News
Abusive drugs hijack natura…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Mechanism of action of the…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Role of fat in rare neurolo…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
How protein synthesis in de…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Atlas of mRNA variants in d…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Other Top Stories
New pathway for accumulation of age-promoting 'zombie cells'
Read more
How EGF receptor sends signals into cells
Read more
Endogenous receptor surface mobility during synaptic plasticity and…
Read more
Recording gene expression order in DNA by CRISPR addition of retron…
Read more
Mechanisms and inhibition of Porcupine-mediated Wnt acylation
Read more
Protocols
A programmable targeted pro…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
MemPrep, a new technology f…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
A tangible method to assess…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
Stem cell-derived vessels-o…
By newseditor
Posted 06 Apr
Single-cell biclustering fo…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Apr
Publications
Exploiting pancreatic cance…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Structure of antiviral drug…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Type-I-interferon-responsiv…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Selenium, diabetes, and the…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Long-term neuropsychologica…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar