The mind-body connection is fascinating indeed.

Researchers at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering have created an algorithm that can track mental health through skin, The Hill reported today. The lead researcher, associate professor of biomedical engineering Rose Faghih, has been working for seven years to create a “novel inference engine” that monitors brain activity through electrical impulses in the skin.

Electrodermal activity (EDA) is “an electrical phenomenon of the skin that changes based on certain emotional stressors [such as] pain, exhaustion or being rushed at work.”

A statement released by NYU explained that “Faghih and her former PhD student Rafiul Amin were able to, for the first time, develop a novel inference engine that can monitor brain activity through the skin in real time with accuracy and high scalability.”

The new technology was tested on 26 healthy patients and was able to successfully “decipher and interpret brain signals in seconds.” Faghih hopes to develop a wearable device called MINDWATCH that can track mental health and nudge the wearer toward a more healthy state when agitated, perhaps by playing soothing music to combat stress.

Faghih hopes her work will “represent a breakthrough for mental health care,” as monitoring “the mental status of vulnerable people could help them get more effect care and prevent severe consequences from declining mental health or swings in mood.”

Read The Hill article here.

Read NYU’s press release here.

Read the original journal article in Computational Biology.

O’Connell-Domenech, Alejandra. “New algorithm can track mental health through skin.” The Hill, 16 Aug 2022, https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/medical-advances/3603133-new-algorithm-can-track-mental-health-through-skin/.

Photo from NYU press release