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Upon being told to deliver an unprepared five-minute speech and then subtract sequentially in intervals of 17 – all in front of a panel of three strangers – the acute stress was written on my face.

That is because scientists were recording this somewhat terrifying scenario for a scientific study that is studying stress using thermal cameras.

Stress alters the blood distribution in the face, and experts have determined that the drop in temperature of a person's nose can be used as a measure of stress levels and to observe restoration.

Heat mapping, as stated by the scientists conducting the research could be a "game changer" in tension analysis.

The Experimental Stress Test

The experimental stress test that I underwent is precisely structured and purposely arranged to be an unpleasant surprise. I came to the university with minimal awareness what I was about to experience.

Initially, I was told to settle, calm down and hear background static through a pair of earphones.

Up to this point, very peaceful.

Then, the investigator who was overseeing the assessment invited a group of unfamiliar people into the area. They each looked at me silently as the investigator stated that I now had a brief period to prepare a five minute speech about my "perfect occupation".

As I felt the heat rise around my neck, the scientists captured my skin tone shifting through their infrared device. My nose quickly dropped in temperature – turning blue on the heat map – as I contemplated ways to bluster my way through this impromptu speech.

Study Outcomes

The researchers have conducted this identical tension assessment on numerous subjects. In every case, they saw their nose dip in temperature by several degrees.

My facial temperature decreased in heat by a couple of degrees, as my biological response system pushed blood flow away from my nasal region and to my eyes and ears – a bodily response to help me to see and detect for hazards.

The majority of subjects, comparable to my experience, returned to normal swiftly; their noses warmed to normal readings within a few minutes.

Principal investigator stated that being a reporter and broadcaster has probably made me "quite habituated to being subjected to tense situations".

"You're accustomed to the filming device and speaking to unknown individuals, so you're likely relatively robust to social stressors," she explained.

"Nevertheless, even people with your background, experienced in handling stressful situations, shows a bodily response alteration, so this indicates this 'facial cooling' is a reliable indicator of a shifting anxiety level."

Anxiety Control Uses

Anxiety is natural. But this finding, the scientists say, could be used to assist in controlling damaging amounts of tension.

"The length of time it takes a person to return to normal from this cooling effect could be an quantifiable indicator of how well somebody regulates their tension," noted the lead researcher.

"If they bounce back exceptionally gradually, might this suggest a potential indicator of psychological issues? Is it something that we can address?"

Because this technique is without physical contact and measures a physical response, it could also be useful to observe tension in babies or in people who can't communicate.

The Mental Arithmetic Challenge

The second task in my anxiety evaluation was, personally, more difficult than the first. I was asked to count sequentially decreasing from 2023 in steps of 17. One of the observers of three impassive strangers halted my progress whenever I committed an error and instructed me to begin anew.

I confess, I am bad at mental arithmetic.

While I used awkward duration striving to push my mind to execute arithmetic operations, my sole consideration was that I wished to leave the progressively tense environment.

During the research, only one of the 29 volunteers for the tension evaluation did actually ask to exit. The others, like me, accomplished their challenges – probably enduring varying degrees of discomfort – and were compensated by another calming session of white noise through headphones at the finish.

Non-Human Applications

Possibly included in the most unexpected elements of the approach is that, because thermal cameras measure a physical stress response that is innate in many primates, it can also be used in non-human apes.

The scientists are presently creating its implementation within habitats for large monkeys, such as chimps and gorillas. They aim to determine how to lower tension and boost the health of creatures that may have been saved from distressing situations.

The team has already found that showing adult chimpanzees video footage of infant chimps has a calming effect. When the scientists installed a video screen near the protected apes' living area, they saw the noses of creatures that observed the content heat up.

Therefore, regarding anxiety, viewing infant primates playing is the contrary to a surprise job interview or an on-the-spot subtraction task.

Potential Uses

Implementing heat-sensing technology in monkey habitats could prove to be useful for assisting rehabilitated creatures to adapt and acclimate to a unfamiliar collective and strange surroundings.

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