title: Heart-rate response to water-immersion isolation as a function of spatial orientation.
abstract: The present study investigates the effect of spatial orientation of the body on heart rate during conditions of water-immersion sensory isolation. Two groups of three men and three women each were exposed to one of two isolation conditions. In one condition the subject was suspended in a buoyant but vertical attitude; in a second condition the subject was suspended in a buoyant but horizontal attitude. Heart-rate data were obtained continuously during each session. There was no significant difference in mean heart rate between the two conditions. The data were interpreted as providing support for the position that studies comparing recumbent subjects in air isolation with underwater subjects in a vertical suspension attitude are valid, at least for some measures, and are not an artifact of spatial bodily orientation. The possible importance of neutral buoyancy in accounting for the nonsignificant effect of body attitude on heart rate is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Vermont 05405.
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Forgays
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McClure
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007101:Immersion; D008297:Male; D011187:Posture; D012683:Sensory Deprivation; D012934:Social Isolation; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000503:physiopathology