history at a glance
- Researchers at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering were able to create a “novel inference engine” that can monitor brain activity through electrical impulses in the skin.
- The principal investigator, Rose Faghih associate professor of biomedical engineering, has been developing the technology for the past seven years.
- The new technology was tested on 26 healthy people and was shown to decipher and interpret brain signals in seconds.
Researchers at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering have come one step closer to creating a wearable device that can track mental health.
Over the past seven years, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering Rose Faghih has developed technology that measures certain brain activity directly related to a person’s emotional state, specifically electrodermal activity (EDA), through the skin.
EDA is an electrical phenomenon of the skin that changes based on certain emotional stressors. For example, stress caused by pain, tiredness, or being rushed at work can change a person’s AGE.
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Faghih and his former doctoral student Rafiul Amin were able, for the first time, to develop a novel inference engine that can monitor brain activity through the skin in real time with precision and high scalability, according to a statement from NYU.
Details of the crucial task were recently published in the magazine. Computational Biology.
Faghih hopes to eventually create a device that can monitor a user’s state of mind and “offer nudges” to help them return to a more neutral state of mind when under stress.
One example of how the yet-to-be-completed device, dubbed MINDWATCH, could do this is by playing soothing music when the user experiences a time of serious work-related stress, according to to the statement.
“Inferring autonomic nervous system activation from wearable devices in real time opens up new opportunities to monitor and improve mental health and cognitive engagement,” Faghih said.
The new device was tested on 26 healthy people and showed that it could reliably decipher brain signals and translate them into information in a matter of seconds.
The device could have other health benefits besides adjusting a person’s mental state, according to Faghih.
The technology could be used to help diagnose a complication of diabetes called neuropathy, or severe nerve damage that causes numbness, pain or weakness.
Tiny nerves transmit brain stimulation to parts of the body, including those connected to the skin’s conductance response.
EDA can be measured and monitored regularly on neuropathy-prone skin areas, such as the hands or soles of the feet, to see if the area has the condition.
If the user has neuropathy, those little nerves won’t be able to transmit anything and therefore won’t activate the brain. Observing these changes in brain activity could help doctors determine how the condition has progressed and how best to treat it.
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Posted on August 15, 2022
