SENSEBEAT-DS

SENsory and Body perception EvAluaTion in Depressive Symptomatology 2024-2027 The SENSEBEAT project investigates sensory patterns and body perception in depressive disorders. Sensory and body perception alterations significantly impact how individuals interact with their surroundings. In the context of depressive disorders, disruptions in signaling across sensory domains influence symptomatology, sensory-motor integration, and treatment responses. Our previous projects demonstrated that technology integrating sound-feedback on body movement alters body perceptions and related motor behavior and emotional state in various populations, including those with low physical activity levels, chronic pain, eating disorders, and chronic stroke. In our recent work we are exploring sensory-driven malleability in conjunction with interoceptive awareness and sensory-processing sensitivity, particularly in populations with eating disorders. We have also shown associations between feelings of depression and body sensations using bodily illusions, with promising applications in mental health interventions. In the pursuit of developing diagnostic tools and therapies, it is crucial to conduct research on alterations in sensory and body perception associated with depressive symptoms, as well as the impact of sensorial technology on these aspects across laboratory, clinical, and everyday settings. The SENSEBEAT project hypothesizes that disturbances in sensory processing and body perception contribute to the pathophysiology of depressive disorders, offering potential avenues for intervention. It aims to investigate short-term and longitudinal correlations between sensory processing, body perception disturbances, and depressive symptoms. This involves profiling populations and assessing the malleability of sensory-driven body perceptions through wearable technology, along with smart devices utilized during follow-up periods. This 3-year inter- and multidisciplinary project focuses on refining wearable systems and multisensory stimulation, testing instruments and tailoring interventions in populations with depressive symptoms, and utilizing machine learning models for data collected in real-world settings. SENSEBEAT brings together a multidisciplinary and international team involving the areas of Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Human-Computer Interaction, Psychiatry, Data science, and real-life health applications. Researchers are from five European countries and eight academic groups in Spain (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Universidad de Sevilla, Universidad de Zaragoza), UK (University College London Interaction Centre), France (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique), Switzerland (University Hospital of Psychiatry and Association of Independent Research) and Sweden (KTH). Leveraging extensive experience in sensorial assessment and implicit ecological assessments, the project aims to advance knowledge on sensory and body perception disturbances in major depression and guide the design of innovative body-centered technologies with the potential to revolutionize therapies and self-management practices of individuals with depressive symptoms. ___ El proyecto SENSEBEAT investiga los patrones sensoriales y la percepción corporal en trastornos depresivos. Las alteraciones en la percepción sensorial y corporal tienen un impacto significativo en la interacción de las personas con su entorno y, en el contexto de los trastornos depresivos, estas alteraciones también influyen en la sintomatología, la integración sensoriomotora y las respuestas al tratamiento. En proyectos anteriores demostramos que la tecnología con retroalimentación sonora sobre el movimiento corporal altera las percepciones corporales, el comportamiento motor y el estado emocional en diversas poblaciones, incluidas aquellas con bajos niveles de actividad física, dolor crónico, trastornos alimentarios y accidente cerebrovascular crónico. Recientemente, estamos explorando la maleabilidad corporal inducida por señales sensoriales, en conjunción con la conciencia interoceptiva y sensibilidad al procesamiento sensorial, en poblaciones con trastornos alimentarios. También hemos demostrado, empleando ilusiones corporales, asociaciones entre síntomas de depresión y sensaciones corporales, con aplicaciones prometedoras en intervenciones de salud mental. Para desarrollar herramientas de diagnóstico y tratamiento es crucial llevar a cabo investigaciones sobre alteraciones en la percepción sensorial y corporal asociadas con los síntomas depresivos, así como investigar el impacto de la tecnología sensorial en estos aspectos en entornos de laboratorio, clínicos y cotidianos. El proyecto SENSEBEAT postula que las alteraciones en el procesamiento sensorial y la percepción corporal contribuyen a la fisiopatología de los trastornos depresivos, ofreciendo posibles vías de intervención. Su objetivo es investigar correlaciones a corto y largo plazo entre el procesamiento sensorial, las alteraciones en la percepción corporal y los síntomas depresivos. Esto implica la caracterización de poblaciones y la evaluación de la maleabilidad de la percepción corporal inducida por señales sensoriales. El proyecto empleará tecnología portable en estudios de laboratorio y en el hogar, junto con dispositivos inteligentes utilizados durante los períodos de seguimiento. Este proyecto inter/multidisciplinario de 3 años consta de dos subproyectos. El subproyecto 1 se centra en refinar sistemas de estimulación multisensorial vestibles, evaluar instrumentos, adaptar intervenciones en población subclínica, y utilizar modelos de aprendizaje automático para los datos recogidos en entornos reales. El subproyecto 2 consiste en un ensayo clínico con un seguimiento de seis meses, en el que se emplea la Evaluación Ecológica Momentánea pasiva basada en teléfonos inteligentes y un estudio en el hogar de los pacientes, de un mes de duración, para investigar el impacto de la estimulación sensorial centrada en las percepciones corporales sobre los síntomas depresivos. sensebeat.eu RESEARCHERS Adrián Alacreu Crespo – Universidad de Zaragoza Aneesha Singh – University College London, Reino Unido Ana Tajadura Jiménez – UC3M Bigna Leggenhagger – University Hospital of Psychiatry, Zurich, Suiza y Association for Independent Elena Márquez Segura – UC3M Emilio PARRADO HERNANDEZ – UC3M Frederic Bevilacqua – IRCAM-CNRS-SORBONNE UNIVERSITÉ, Francia Jorge López Castromán – Universidad de Santiago de Compostela María Luisa Avargues Navarro – Universidad de Sevilla Mercedes Bordá Más – Universidad de Sevilla Nadia Berthouze – University College London, Reino Unido Sergio Navas León – Universidad Nebrijaå FUNDING Grant PID2023-150259OB-C21 “This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101002711)“. PUBLICATIONS

BODYinTRANSIT

Sensory-driven Body Transformation Experiences On-the-move.  2022-2026 BODYinTRANSIT  is a research project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101002711)and led by Prof. Ana Tajadura-Jiménez. It will run within the Department of Computer Science Department at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain.  It was selected as 1 of the 8 ERC Consolidator Grant project examples 2020. bodyintransit.eu RESEARCHERS Ana Tajadura-JiménezJoaquín R. Díaz DuránMarte RoelLaia Turmo VidalMohammad Mahdi DehshibiLaura AlonsoAmar D’AdamoJosé Manuel Vega Cebrián Daniel de la Prida CaballeroElena Márquez SeguraLuis Antonio Azpicueta RuizFernando Díaz de MaríaÁngel Sánchez SánchezAlfredo Miralles RESULTS Our physical body is the interface between ourselves and the world around us. The way we perceive our body, its appearance, configuration and motor abilities shapes our behaviour, emotion and social functioning. New sensor-based and bodily sensory feedback devices, such as those brought by immersive virtual reality, allow creating Body Transformation Experiences (BTE). These perceptual illusions, like being in a child’s body, lead to experience changes in one’s own body. Beyond fun experiences, the new field of BTE engineering brings a significant leap for wellbeing and health applications, as well as for the embodiment of robotic devices and virtual avatars, and smart clothing. However, the neuroscience of core sensory-driven changes in Mental Body Representations currently represents piecemeal experiments in very controlled settings that restrict body movement. This hinders the transfer of the basic principles discovered to real-world complex environments and practical problems. Through systematic and iterative research, the project BODYinTRANSIT will establish a theoretical ‘BTE design framework’ for individualized sensorial manipulation of mental body representations with long-lasting effects in everyday use contexts. The framework will stand on four scientific pillars to induce, measure, support, personalize and preserve body transformations: 1) neuroscience of multisensory body perception, 2) data modelling of the links between body-representation, behaviour, emotion and social functioning, 3) wearable-based embodied multisensory interaction design, and 4) field studies in real-life and on-the-move contexts with physically inactive users, somatic practitioners and users with body image concerns. Tangible outcomes will include design principles, data formats, models, measures and paradigms enabling and guiding BTE engineering innovations. BODYinTRANSIT envisions personalized BTE technologies able to measure MBR and adapt bodily sensory feedback to modify it – individually, online and while on-the-move. FUNDING “This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101002711)“. As Light as Your Footsteps i_mBODY As Light as Your Footsteps AS LIGHT AS YOUR FOOTSTEPS: DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF A PORTABLE DEVICE FOR CHANGING BODY PERCEPTION THROUGH A SOUND ILLUSION Magic shoes, that change people’s body perceptions Device with accelerometer sensor for gathering movement data. Inner Fashion. Belt Device with accelerometer sensor for gathering movement data Vibrant. Haptic Device Device for haptic feedback based on vibrations Magic Socks Intelligent shoes for the sonification of footsteps Concept- As Light as Your Footsteps Intelligent shoes for the sonification of footsteps Photos by Antonio Caballero and i_mBODY lab