Effect of Mental Stress on Sympathovagal Balance
Mid-term presentation of Minor Project (BE400M)
submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for
the award of the degree of
BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
In
BIOTECHNOLOGY
By
ADITI
BTECH/10243/21
Under the Supervision
Of
Dr. Yogender Aggarwal
Guide
Department of Bioengineering and Biotechnology
Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra
Ranchi -835215, Jharkhand
SP-2024
INTRODUCTION
Sympathovagal Balance
• It refers to the equilibrium between the sympathetic (fight-or-flight) and parasympathetic (rest-
and-digest) divisions of the autonomic nervous system.
• The sympathetic nervous system activates the fight or flight response during a threat or
perceived danger, and the parasympathetic nervous system restores the body to a state of calm.
Mental Stress Impact
• Mental stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, leading to physiological changes such
as increased heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate, while simultaneously suppressing
parasympathetic activity, which is responsible for relaxation and recovery.
• Prolonged or frequent mental stress can result in a chronic imbalance between sympathetic and
parasympathetic activity, which is linked to various health issues including cardiovascular
problems, anxiety, and weakened immune function.
RATIONALE
• Mental stress is increasingly common in today's fast-paced world, significantly contributing to
both mental and physical health disorders.
• Mental stress causes an imbalance between the sympathetic (activating) and parasympathetic
(calming) branches of the autonomic nervous system, leading to sympathovagal dysregulation.
• Persistent sympathovagal imbalance due to stress is linked to long-term risks like hypertension,
cardiovascular diseases, anxiety, and reduced immune function.
• Heart rate variability (HRV) serves as a key non-invasive indicator of autonomic nervous
system function. Analyzing HRV can provide critical insights into how mental stress alters
sympathovagal balance during cognitive tasks that induce varying levels of stress.
• Understanding how mental stress influences sympathovagal balance is crucial for developing
therapeutic strategies and interventions to prevent and manage stress-related health issues.
AIM & OBJECTIVES
AIM: Effect of Mental Stress on Sympathovagal Balance
OBJECTIVES:
• To evaluate Heart Rate Variability (HRV) analysis of human ECG signals using the Biopac
Acknowledge 4.0 software as a reliable marker for understanding the physiological effects of
mental stress on the body.
• Employ the Kubios Software for detailed analysis of the HRV reflecting the body's stress levels,
such as the low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) components of HRV.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Author’s name Title of paper Journal name Inference
Vesna Vuksanovic , Heart rate variability in Medical Engineering The main observation of
Vera Gal mental stress aloud & Physics 29 (2007) these studies is that non-
344–349 linear measures are more
sensitive than linear in
detecting subtle changes in
intrinsic properties of HR
dynamics.
G. Ranganathana, R. Estimation of heart rate Applied Soft Computing Application of wavelet
Rangarajanb, V. signals for mental stress Volume 12, Issue decomposition and
Bindhuc assessment using neuro 8,August 2012, Pages reconstruction techniques to
fuzzy technique. 1978-1984 remove noise and extract
spectral features identified
with the application of
neuro fuzzy training.
K. SRINIVASAN1,3,*, A study of stress and Indian J Physiol As stress levels increased,
MARIO VAZ2,3 AND S. autonomic nervous Pharmacol 2006; 50 there was a corresponding
SUCHARITA2,3 function in first year (3) : 257–264 increase in sympathetic
undergraduate medical activation and no
students. Significant Differences in
Conventional Autonomic
Tests.
RM Kaushik, SK Stress Profile in Hypertension Research, Increased Peripheral
Mahajan, V Rajesh, R Essential Hypertension 2004 Temperature,basal
Kaushik sympathetic activity and
sympathetic nervous
system hyperactivity in in
hypertensive patients.
Sara Pourmohammadi , Continuous mental stress Signal Processing and Indicated a significant
Ali Maleki level assessment using Control 68 (2021) difference in stress levels
electrocardiogram and 102694 between relaxation stages
electromyogram signals and task performance.
METHODOLOGY
Performed HRV Analysis of human
ECG signals using Biopac
Acknowledge software
Generated raw tachogram by peak to
peak analysis of ECG signals for 4
different levels of tasks.
Extracted wave data from the
tachogram for detailed analysis in the
Kubios software.
Determined the Time-domain,
Frequency–domain and non-linear
results
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
THANK YOU!