Honors Theses
Date of Award
2015
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Biology
First Advisor
Carol Britson
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
This study aimed to detect the effects of mental stress on gastric motility in college students through the use of cutaneous electrogastrography (EGG). Additionally, the study aimed to determine the feasibility of creating a laboratory curriculum for a cutaneous electrogastrography experiment that an undergraduate could perform, analyze, and interpret during a three hour physiology lab. Through this study and the laboratory procedures designed from the experiment, undergraduates will be able to interpret the physiological aspects of gastrointestinal function within the human body, including how it is effected by mental stress. According to previous studies by Yin et al. (2004) and Vianna and Tranel (2006), mental stress was expected to inhibit normal gastric motility patterns on an EGG recording. A subject group of 20 University of Mississippi students between the ages of 18 and 23 were recruited via email and gave informed consent prior to participating. Upon arrival to the lab, subjects were asked if they had done the required fasting of 6 to 8 hours before the experiment. In preparation for the experiment, each subject had three EGG electrodes positioned on the abdomen, electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes positioned on the wrists with a ground electrode on the right ankle, and a respiratory rate belt around the lower thorax. Subjects were asked to lie in a supine position during the 30 minute EGG recordings. The first EGG recording session occurred while the subject was still in the fasting state, and the second EGG recording occurred after the subject ingested a test meal. During the second EGG recording session, either a negative slideshow of still images intended to induce slight mental stress or a positive slideshow with still images intended to induce serenity and comfort was played for the subjects to watch. Furthermore, ECG and respiratory rate recordings were conducted on all subjects during each EGG recording session. There was no significant difference in the mean change (post-prandial minus pre-prandial) EGG cycles per minute (CPM) between the positive and negative post-prandial stimuli (P(1,18) =0.604); however, there was a significant increase from 2.679 CPM to 3.026 CPM between the pre-prandial and post-prandial mean EGG cycles per minute of all tested subjects (P(1,38)= 0.000297). The positive group's heart rate increased from 64.955 beats per minute (BPM) to 69.024 BPM, and the negative group's heart rate increased from 60.784 BPM to 63.229 BPM. The positive group's respiratory rate increased from 12.288 breaths per minute (BrPM) to 13.883 BrPM, and the negative group's respiratory rate increased from 15.852 BrPM to 17.290 BrPM. There was no significant difference in the mean change (post-prandial minus pre-prandial) heart rate beats per minute and respiratory rate breaths per minute between the positive and negative postprandial stimuli. There was also no significant difference between the pre-prandial and post-prandial mean heart rate and respiratory rate of all tested subjects. Although the BPM and BrPM of the study did not occur as predicted, the study can be used to create a cutaneous electrogastrography experiment for undergraduate physiology students. The study and the physiology lab can be improved by finding a more appropriate way to induce mental stress in the subjects.
Recommended Citation
Foropoulos, Lauren A., "Feasibility of Incorporating Electrogastrography into an Undergraduate Physiology Laboratory Curriculum" (2015). Honors Theses. 571.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/571
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