Improvement of HRV methodology for positive/negative emotion assessment

Abstract

Heart rate variability (HRV) dynamics are particularly sensitive to changes in emotional states, and positive and negative emotions can readily be distinguished by changes in heart rhythm patterns. In this paper, we proposed an improved methodology which is a full set of methods from hardware design to software development for HRV analysis. Firstly, a multi-channel ECG acquisition device has been designed for ECG signal collection, and then we developed a full-featured ECG monitoring system which suitable for real-time ECG display, signal pre-processing, high accuracy R wave detection and HRV analysis in time and frequency domain. Moreover, this study investigates the relationship between HRV and positive/negative emotion. The experiment consists of three tasks: eyes-open, pleasant images and unpleasant images. 15 healthy, right-handed volunteers (female 5, male 10) participated in the experiment; all of them are college student between 18 and 25 years. We find that there is significant correlation between HRV and positive/negative emotion. Subjects who had high SDNN and high LF exhibit greater activation of autonomic nervous system and vice versa. These results which demonstrated the relationship between automatic nervous system and psychological response on positive/negative stimulus can help us for self-emotion management and regulation, as well as determine the clinical utility of psychological intervention.