The Effects of Wet Versus Dry Float on Heart Rate Variability

Abigail E. Baker,* Hana K. Ulman, Lauren Rentz, and Scott M. Galster
Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506; Human Performance Innovation Center, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Presentation No.: 73

Assigned Category (Presentation Format): Health Sciences (Poster Presentations)

Student’s Major: Biomedical Engineering

Float Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy (Float-REST) has many known physiological and psychological benefits for participants such as reduced muscle tension pain, improved mental health, and overall well-being. The premise of wet and dry flotation-based therapies is to create an environment deprived of sensory stimulation via submersion of the participant into a soundproof, salt-filled tank or on top of a water-filled platform, respectively. Heart-rate-variability metrics provide key insight into an individual’s parasympathetic tone, with specific regards to the rootmean-square-of-successive-differences (rMSSD), standard-deviation-of-NN-intervals (SDNN), high-frequency (HF), low-frequency (LF), and LF/HF ratio. The main purpose was to compare the difference between wet and dry therapies via objective measurements of heart-rate-variability using a Polar H10 device during the session, as well as blood pressure taken before and after each session, and subjective questionnaires. Subjects (N = 9) participated in all variables across all studies for eight-weeks. Preliminary data suggest that there was a significant effect of modality (p = 0.0163) in rMSSD throughout the entire length of the float sessions, however, this trend was not observed with the other metrics.

Funding:

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's SURE program (Rita Rio & Michelle Richards-Babb)