Silent Partner: Autonomic Function Testing in Research
Like the inner workings of an intricate machine, most of our bodily functions operate with little or no conscious effort. That task falls to the autonomic nervous system, a sort of control system that regulates a wide range of processes, including digestion, heart...
Guilt Trips: Taking Measure of Our Moral Compass
“So full of artless jealousy is guilt, It spills itself in fearing to be spilt” —Gertrude, William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” In Act 4 of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, Hamlet’s mother Gertrude points out that the harder one tries to conceal guilt, the easier it is to...
Measuring Moods: Signals for Insight into Emotion
“Do you ever look at someone and wonder what is going on inside their head?” Joy, an anthropomorphized manifestation of happiness, delivers this line at the opening of Pixar’s 2015 animated hit “Inside Out,” a film that explores the emotional struggles of its young...
Baby Blues: Neonatal, Infant, and Toddler Research Challenges
The first five years of a child’s life are marked by considerable change—both physiological and psychological. Young children undergo incremental development in their ability to think and solve problems, their emotions, and their linguistic abilities, to name just a...
Choosing the Right Signal: Easy as 1, 2, 3
In physiology and life sciences, researchers rely on a wide range of signals to gather data from humans and animals. These signals provide critical insight into how complex organisms function under a myriad of conditions. However, this wealth of potential data sources can also present a challenge for researchers: choosing the right signals on which to focus their data gathering. For those lacking a background in the disciplines and mechanisms behind these signals, sifting through the available methodology can be overwhelming. The best place to begin is by considering one or a combination of the “Big Three” physiological signals: ECG, EDA, and respiration.
Curriculum Roadmap: Guiding Students with HAPS Learning Goals
When planning any journey, choosing the right route can mean the difference between reaching one’s destination or becoming lost in the wilderness. It helps to know the purpose of the trip; is it merely to get from point A to point B, or is the journey itself as...
Projection VR: Virtual Rooms Turn Science Fiction into Reality
Fans of Star Trek have long marveled at the technological innovations spawned from the imaginations of its creators—from warp drives that bend space to transporters beaming individuals from point A to B. Few of these speculative innovations inspired more wonder than...
‘Tis the Season for Stress: Research Tools for Anxious Times
Holiday-related stress is as much of a seasonal tradition as family gatherings, frantic shopping forays, and over-indulgence in food and drink. Add to this potent mixture nearly two years of pandemic-induced tension and we have a volatile cocktail of emotions and...
Hitting the Mark: Using Event Markers to Improve Data Quality
Life is a series of events—some are planned while others catch us completely by surprise. This holds true in the lab where the quality of experiments and data depend on accurately identifying, tracking, and sorting key events as they occur. Events like the introduction of stimuli and a test subject’s reaction directly impact data.
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