Wireless Measurement of Sympathetic Arousal During in vivo Occupational Therapy Sessions
Name
fnint-14-539875.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
3.67 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
67f54bcb927a4191aa7cc154f1084d5f
Author(s)
Hedman, Elliot
Schoen, Sarah A
Miller, Lucy J
Picard, Rosalind W.
Date Issued
2020
Journal
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Version
Final published version
Abstract
© Copyright © 2020 Hedman, Schoen, Miller and Picard. Purpose: One goal of occupational therapists working with children who have sensory processing challenges is the regulation of arousal. Regulation strategies have not been evaluated using an empirical measure of physiological arousal. Objective: To establish the feasibility of using an objective physiologic measure of sympathetic arousal in therapeutic settings and explore the relation between therapeutic activities and sympathetic arousal. To evaluate changes in electrodermal activity (EDA) during occupational therapy sessions. Methods: Twenty-two children identified with sensory modulation dysfunction (SMD) wore a wireless EDA sensor during 50 min occupational therapy sessions (n = 77 sessions). Results: All children were able to wear the sensor on the lower calf without being distracted by the device. The five insights below are based on a comparison of EDA recordings in relation to therapists’ reflections describing how sympathetic arousal might correspond to therapeutic activities. Conclusion: Objective physiological assessment of a child’s sympathetic arousal during therapy is possible using a wireless EDA measurement system. Changes in EDA may correspond directly with therapeutic activities. The article provides a foundation for designing future therapeutic studies that include continuous measures of EDA.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Media Laboratory
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
10.3389/fnint.2020.539875
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2020.539875
