Heart rate variability (HRV) is a naturally occurring cardiovascular phenomenon referring to the changing timing between consecutive heartbeats. The connection between HRV and overall cardiovascular health and autonomic nervous system function has been well established through prior research and well documented in existing literature. The existing studies, however, included shorter HRV subject recording session, using traditional HRV monitoring methods that do not typically combine electrocardiogram (ECG), seismocardiogram (SCG) and galvanic skin response (GSR) respiration monitoring. The inclusion of longer HRV subject recording may allow for further insight on the possible effects of given observable biological phenomenon on HRV. The current technology for the collection and storage of analog voltage HRV signals exists as separate ECG, SCG and GSR data collection units; all of which are required to make meaningful conclusions about HRV. These individual units work independently from one another, are not portable, must be connected to a power grid at all times, require attachments to the subject at specific body surface locations to ensure data accuracy and require technical expertise to operate efficiently and interpret the obtained data. The study proposes a long-term simultaneous recording device capable of tracking these signals which will allow more detailed inter-signal analysis that can provide more insight into cardiac activity in the presence of changing observable biological phenomena over time.

Despite a high proportion of the population experiencing traumatic events within their lifetime, the number of individuals who go on to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is comparatively small; herein highlighting the importance of individual differences in imparting risk and resilience towards the development and maintenance of PTSD. Existing literature illustrates that biological and ecological factors are important in predicting PTSD development, with pathological vulnerabilities excepting their effects at pre- peri- and post trauma stages. Whilst cognitive and emotion based models of PTSD account for the role of a minority of known pre-trauma risk factors, individual differences in peri- and post trauma processes are held as critical to the development of PTSD. The broad range of risk factors implicated in the empirical literature, and necessity of traumatic exposure to PTSD, implicates the utility of a diathesis-stress conceptualisation of PTSD development. The current thesis employed an analogue VR-trauma paradigm to investigate the respective importance of vulnerability factors at each stage, in the prediction of analogue PTSD symptoms (memory problems, startle responses, re-exposure fear habituation), whilst measuring affective and electrophysiological concomitance. Findings supported the importance of peri-traumatic responses in the prediction of PTSD, where present, showing increased predictive capacities over pre- and post-trauma factors. Biological and ecological factors also illustrated important predictive associations, with genetic SNPs implicated in reflex startle and cardiac responses towards intrusive memories. Moreover, peri-traumatic HR decelerations and accelerations mediated the association between pre-trauma factors and cued recall inaccuracy and intrusion severity respectively. Results support existing cognitive and emotional models in their emphasis on peri-traumatic processes but suggest the added utility of a diathesis stress conceptualisation of the development of PTSD, in highlighting the importance of pre-trauma biological and ecological risk and resilience factors.

Le sommeil constitue une activité indispensable à l’adaptation et à la survie des organismes supérieurs. Chez l’être humain, il aurait un rôle dans l’intégration des expériences diurnes, de manière à préparer l’individu à la période de veille consécutive. Du fait de la pertinence adaptative des émotions, il a récemment été proposé que les émotions pré-hypniques pourraient influencer le déroulement du sommeil lequel modulerait la réactivité émotionnelle au réveil. Toutefois, ce lien bi-directionnel entre émotion et sommeil demeure peu caractérisé, notamment de par sa complexité et la difficulté à concilier les diverses approches méthodologiques. Dans ce contexte, l’objectif de la présente thèse était double : d’une part, déterminer l’impact de l’induction d’états émotionnels diurnes sur les caractéristiques du sommeil ; d’autre part, évaluer l’influence de ces états sur la réactivité émotionnelle au réveil. La programmation expérimentale a conduit à la mise en place de trois types de séquences vidéos émotionnelles, négatives, neutres ou positives, de manière à induire un état émotionnel diurne chez des participants, français ou japonais. Deux expérimentations ont eu lieu : l’une, testait l’impact des séquences émotionnelles sur l’état émotionnel des participants ; l’autre, visait à déterminer l’influence d’états émotionnels pré-hypniques sur les paramètres du sommeil et sur la réactivité à des expressions émotionnelles faciales, présentées peu après le réveil consécutif. Ces expérimentations ont permis d’obtenir plusieurs résultats novateurs. En premier lieu, il a pu être montré que les séquences vidéos induisaient des états émotionnels congruents en phase pré-hypnique. En deuxième lieu, ces états émotionnels pré-hypniques modifiaient la distribution des stades du sommeil consécutif ainsi que l’activité neurovégétative associée. En troisième lieu, nous avons pu observer que l’induction émotionnelle pré-hypnique entrainait des modifications de la réactivité émotionnelle après la période de sommeil consécutive, lors de la présentation de visages exprimant des intensités émotionnelles variables. L’interprétation des principaux résultats conduit à supposer que l’augmentation du temps passé en stade REM (Rapid Eye Movement) notamment, suite aux stimulations pré-hypniques, pourrait être l’indice d’un traitement particulier des expériences émotionnelles diurnes. Prenant appui sur cette hypothèse, il n’est pas exclu que ce traitement puisse constituer un médiateur des modifications de la réactivité émotionnelle observées lors du réveil.En conclusion, les recherches présentées dans cette thèse, fondées sur une méthodologie d’induction émotionnelle, nouvelle et standardisée, apportent des informations originales sur les liens bi-directionnels entre les émotions de la période de veille et le déroulement du sommeil. Sous réserve d’expérimentations supplémentaires, ces travaux suggèrent des questionnements nouveaux sur le rôle des émotions, notamment positives, sur le sommeil et les états émotionnels consécutifs. D’un point de vue prospectif, l’idée de l’utilisation du sommeil comme un levier efficace dans la régulation des émotions se trouve renforcée. / Sleep constitutes a major component of adaptation and survival in evolved organisms. In humans, sleep could have a role in the integration of daytime experiences, preparing by this way individuals for consecutive wake period. Due to the adaptive relevance of emotions, it has recently been proposed that pre-hypnic emotions could influence the sleep course, which could modulate emotional reactivity at awakening. However, the bi-directional link between emotion and sleep remains unclear, this being explained by the complexity of such link and by the difficulty of reconciling the diversity of methodological approaches. In this context, the aim of this thesis was twofold: first, determine the impact of induced daytime emotional states on sleep characteristics; second, assess the influence of these states on the emotional reactivity at the awakening.The experimental program led to the presentation of three types of emotional movies, negative, neutral or positive, in order to induce a diurnal emotional state, in French or Japanese participants. Two experiments were carried out: one tested the impact of the emotional movies on the individual emotional states; the other determined the influence of pre-hypnic induced emotional states on sleep parameters and responsiveness to emotional facial expressions, presented to the participant at the subsequent awakening.These experiments allowed to obtain several new results. Firstly, it was shown that emotional movies induced congruent emotional states during the pre-hypnic period. Secondly, these pre-hypnic emotional states influenced the distribution of sleep stages and associated autonomic activity during the consecutive night of sleep. Thirdly, we observed that the pre-hypnic emotional induction modulated the emotional reactivity after the sleep period, during the presentation of faces expressing emotions at different intensities. The interpretation of main results can lead to the speculation that the increase of time spent in REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage, following the pre-hypnic emotional stimulations, can be a marker of central processes related to daytime emotional experiences. Based on this assumption, such processes could be a required mediator for emotional reactivity changes observed upon awakening.In conclusion, researches presented in this thesis, subtended by a new and standardized methodology of emotional induction, provide original information about the bi-directional links between diurnal emotions and sleep course. Subject to additional experimentations, this work brings new questions about the role of emotions, particularly positive ones, on sleep and subsequent emotional states. From a prospective point of view, reported data reinforces the idea that considers the sleep as an efficient lever to regulate emotions.

The theoretical part of this thesis is focused on the explanation of the Smart concept within the cities and tourist destinations, how the destination of Písek uses marketing communication to attract new visitors and to keep the existing ones. In this part, the reader will also be informed about the topic of measuring emotions, what the methods are, their strengths and weaknesses, and specifically how the EDA method (measurement of electrodermal activity, or skin conductivity) works, which was used in the practical part. The aim of thesis is to use new technologies in effective marketing of tourism destinations - based on measurement of emotional reactions using the EDA method, optimalization of visual communication for destination Písek and its surroundings as a city with a Smart city concept. The practical part describes how the questionnaire and measurement by the EDA method took place. During the research the respondents were shown pictures that were taken of Písek and its surroundings. Data processing was done by evaluating the questionnaire and EDA measurements. The results of both research methods were ranked in the Top Ten Positively/Negatively Ranked Images with Higher Emotional Response. Ten positively and ten negatively evaluated questionnaire and EDA measurements are also visualized in this thesis. It can be concluded from the research that the EDA method is suitable for the measurement of emotions and, together with the questionnaire, it provided interesting information on what type of images is suitable to use in the marketing communication of Píseckem, s. r. o.

Le suivi de l'état de santé et de la réactivité émotionnelle chez l'individu est au cœur de la médecine de demain ; il participe notamment au développement de nouveaux services de soins en santé tels que la médecine à domicile, la médecine mobile ou encore la médecine personnalisée. Cependant il nécessite d'une part la définition d'indicateurs adaptés à la mesure en environnement complexe, et d'autre part la conception d'exocapteurs et d'instrumentations intégrés dans l'environnement de l'individu. Les travaux de cette thèse présentent la démarche nécessaire au passage de mesures physiologiques en laboratoire à celles des conditions de la vie de tous les jours, en s'articulant autour de deux axes d'étude : Le premier axe concerne la conception et le développement d'une instrumentation ambulatoire pour la mesure de paramètres physiologiques en conditions écologiques. Le système portable EmoSense conçu pour la mesure de la fréquence cardiaque, de la résistance cutanée et de la température cutanée permet l'identification de nouveaux indicateurs de la réactivité émotionnelle à partir de mesures réalisées en situations réelles. L'expérimentation présentée sur l'objectivation du stress chez les personnes aveugles pendant leur déplacement en milieu urbain a permis la construction d'un nouvel indicateur pour l'analyse de l'activité électrodermale. Par ailleurs, cette démarche met en avant l'importance de la mise en place de plateformes ayant pour objectif de fournir un support pour l'expérimentation en conditions écologiques, telles que les Living Lab. La seconde partie des travaux est consacrée à la mesure de l'activité électrodermale (résistance électrique cutanée) pendant la conduite de véhicule. Cette mesure est basée sur la conception et le développement d'un volant instrumenté. Ce travail illustre les difficultés technologiques liées à la mesure de signaux bioélectriques par exocapteurs pour leur intégration dans l'environnement de l'individu. Nous proposons ainsi une topologie innovante de placement des électrodes dans le but d'optimiser les facteurs de disponibilité et de robustesse du signal liés à la mesure de signaux bioélectriques par exocapteurs. / Improvement in quality and efficiency of health and medicine, at home and in hospital, has become of paramount importance. The solution to this problem would require the continuous monitoring of several key patient parameters, including emotional reactivity analysis, in order to assist the development of mobile Health or personalized Health. But it often requires a new definition of commonly used indicators to adapt them for an in situ monitoring, and also the design of exo-sensors and instrumentations integrated in the environment. This PhD work contributes to the definition of the steps leading experiments from laboratory to real-life conditions: First a new ambulatory device was developed to enable the measurement of heart rate, electrodermal activity and skin temperature during in situ experiments, for the definition of new indicators of emotional reactivity. Experimenting in real-life settings has led to the definition of a novel, more pertinent parameter for the evaluation of stress in the blind when walking in urban space.These results were very encouraging for the use of such ambulatory devices for experiments under real-life conditions, such as Living Labs. The second part deals with the assessment of electrodermal activity while driving. This work is based on the design and the development of a steering wheel enabling the measurement of galvanic skin resistance. This has shown the challenges and issues of the assessment of bioelectric signals with exo-sensors for their integration in the human environment. Therefore we propose a new and innovative topology of electrodes on the steering wheel, for the optimization of the amount of available data and the quality of biolectric signals.

Cette thèse vise à détecter et améliorer l’état cognitif de l’apprenant. Cet état est défini par la capacité d’acquérir de nouvelles connaissances et de les stocker dans la mémoire. Nous nous sommes essentiellement intéressés à améliorer le raisonnement des apprenants, et ceci dans trois environnements : environnement purement cognitif Logique, jeu sérieux LewiSpace et jeu sérieux intelligent Inertia. La détection de cet état se fait essentiellement par des mesures physiologiques (en particulier les électroencéphalogrammes) afin d’avoir une idée sur les interactions des apprenants et l’évolution de leurs états mentaux. L’amélioration des performances des apprenants et de leur raisonnement est une clé pour la réussite de l’apprentissage. Dans une première partie, nous présentons l’implémentation de l’environnement cognitif logique. Nous décrivons des statistiques faites sur cet environnement. Nous avons collecté durant une étude expérimentale les données sur l’engagement, la charge cognitive et la distraction. Ces trois mesures se sont montrées efficaces pour la classification et la prédiction des performances des apprenants. Dans une deuxième partie, nous décrivons le jeu Lewispace pour l’apprentissage des diagrammes de Lewis. Nous avons mené une étude expérimentale et collecté les données des électroencéphalogrammes, des émotions et des traceurs de regard. Nous avons montré qu’il est possible de prédire le besoin d’aide dans cet environnement grâce à ces mesures physiologiques et des algorithmes d’apprentissage machine. Dans une troisième partie, nous clôturons la thèse en présentant des stratégies d’aide intégrées dans un jeu virtuel Inertia (jeu de physique). Cette dernière s’adapte selon deux mesures extraites des électroencéphalogrammes (l’engagement et la frustration). Nous avons montré que ce jeu permet d’augmenter le taux de réussite dans ses missions, la performance globale et par conséquent améliorer l’état cognitif de l’apprenant. / This thesis aims at detecting and enhancing the cognitive state of a learner. This state is measured by the ability to acquire new knowledge and store it in memory. Focusing on three types of environments to enhance reasoning: environment Logic, serious game LewiSpace and intelligent serious game Inertia. Physiological measures (in particular the electroencephalograms) have been taken in order to measure learners’ engagement and mental states. Improving learners’ reasoning is key for successful learning process. In a first part, we present the implementation of logic environment. We present statistics on this environment, with data collected during an experimental study. Three types of data: engagement, workload and distraction, these measures were effective and can predict and classify learner’s performance. In a second part, we describe the LewiSpace game, aimed at teaching Lewis diagrams. We conducted an experimental study and collected data from electroencephalograms, emotions and eye-tracking software. Combined with machine learning algorithms, it is possible to anticipate a learner’s need for help using these data. In a third part, we finish by presenting some assistance strategies in a virtual reality game called Inertia (to teach Physics). The latter adapts according to two measures extracted from electroencephalograms (frustration and engagement). Based on our study, we were able to enhance the learner’s success rate on game missions, by improving its cognitive state.

<p>Experiment One: The Effect of Noise on Autonomic Arousal</p><p><br></p><p>In response to the growing demand for research that helps us understand the complex interactions between Autonomic Arousal (AA) on behavior and performance there is an increasing need for robust techniques to efficiently utilize stimuli, such as sound, to vary the level of AA within a study. The goal of this study was to look at the impact of several factors, including sound intensity, order of presentation, and direction of presentation on skin conductance level, a widely utilized technique for approximating levels of AA. To do this we had 34 young adults ages 18- 34 listen to a series of 2-minute blocks of a sound stimuli based off a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC). Blocks included 5 single intensity conditions each block differing in 10 dBA steps ranging from 35-75 dBA. We presented blocks in both rising and falling level of intensity, with half the participants hearing them in a rising order first and half in a falling order first. The evidence found by this study suggests that increasing the sound level plays an important role in increasing AA and habituation is an extremely important factor that must be accounted for as it, in the case of typical young adults, quickly dampens the response to stimuli and subsequent stimuli. These findings suggest that researchers can best efficiently maximize the range of AA they can use while keeping their participants comfortable by starting out with the most intense stimuli and proceeding to the less intense stimuli, working with habitation instead of against it.</p><p> </p><p><br></p><p> Experiment Two: The Effect of Autonomic Arousal on Visual Attention</p><p><br></p><p>The goal of this study was to better understand how various levels of autonomic arousal impact different components of attentional control and if ASD-related traits indexed by Autism Quotient scores (AQ) might relate to alterations in this relationship. This study had 41 young adult participants (23 women, 17 men, 1 prefer not to say), ages ranging from 18 to 38 years old. Participants listened to varying levels of noise to induce changes in AA, which were recorded as changes in skin conductance level (SCL). To evaluate attentional control, participants preformed pro and anti-saccade visual gap–overlap paradigm tasks as measures of attentional control. The findings of this study suggest that increased levels of autonomic arousal are helpful for improving performance on anti-saccade tasks, which are heavily dependent on top-down attentional control. Additionally, increases in AQ scores were related to having less of a benefit from increasing levels of arousal on anti-saccade tasks. Additional interactions were also found and are discussed in this paper.</p>