MARIN ACADEMY RESEARCH COLLABORATIVE​
STUDENT BLOGS
THE EFFECT OF LISTENING TO MUSIC ON HEART RATE AND CORTISOL LEVELS IN ADOLESCENTS
The purpose of this experiment is to see the rate in which cortisol levels and heart rate decline based off of the audio each subject is listening to. This experiment proceeds to collect data on whether music affects the brain. In order to evaluate each subject's stress, saliva swabs were collected and heart rate will be recorded. At the start of the study each subject’s saliva will be collected for a base line. Then another saliva sample will be collected at the termination of the stress test and lastly after the music is played. Along with the saliva samples at each of these intervals the heart rate will also be collected. To detect cortisol levels an ELISA test will be run on the samples.
February 18, 2018
RECRUTMENT
I am currently in the recruitment process. I have been announcing during assembaly and sending out emails to find willing volunteers.Â
I have about 14 volunteers and my goal is to get 16. I hope to start testing within the first week of march.
November 30, 2017
SO CLOSE
I am currently editing my SOP. In the last few days I have found new excitement for my project as I am only an edit of my SOP away from starting.
In the process of creating a Standard Operation of Procedure document I am puzzled on one section. In my experimental design music is played for 30 minutes and then the last heart rate and saliva samples are taken. The question is how do I know that 30 minutes is long enough?
Also in this process I have decided to only use one sex in my pool of participants. I have made this decision based on how many tests I can perform. My decision on which sex to study will be based on research on which sex is more prone to high anxiety in adolescence. According to my pulmonary research, females are more prone, so most likely my study will just be conducted on females.
October 20, 2017
MY THOUGHTS
Recently, I have been thinking about the significance of my research. After a stressful past week, due to the North bay fires threatening loved ones homes and took so many other's. I have had new motivation to see the results of my study.
If the results turn out to support my hypothesis in high stress, overfull places like evacuation centers may be able to reduce stress on a massive scale.
These are just some thought on how my research could help on a large scale.
October 5, 2017
METHODS
My goal is to solidify my methods as soon as possible. The bigest whole in my methods is the music. I need to figure out my definition of music. I had a meeting withy metro Tania and we were thinking having the music be in three different registrars; high, middle and low. IÂ am going to talk to my physics teacher to learn more about how I can classify music. However, I feel like I'm making progress on my methods section. My hope it that my methods can be finalized by the end of October.
September 29, 2017
WORK SPACE
Something new this year is the facilities and workspace available. The new Scinece and Inovation Center opened and this class has our own space in the building.
This is my personal work bench. I have my cortisol collection materials on the shelf above. On the desk I have notes and posits.
This room has the freezer that will store my silver samples. Also plenty counter space to do the ales. I can't wait to conduct my experiment this year so I can use all the new equipment in this building.
September 27, 2017
A NEW YEAR
It has been three months since I have worked on my study. Here is an update in what has been done since the start of school.
it is a new beginning from last year. A new purpose is being finalize. I am planing to start my finial project data collection in January.
This is a simple timeline I am trying to follow.
May 13, 2017
GATHERING DATA
The past week I have been conducting my experiment. I did all my tests between 7 am and 9 am. I kept the time the same because cortisol is on a 24-hour cycle so I had to keep the time of day constant for all my subjects. I got 7 students to volunteer to be tested. Each volunteer got a parent consent for signed and sign an assent form before participation. First I collected a sample of their saliva and then explained the rules of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. After three minutes of playing the card game, I immediately took another saliva sample. All silver samples were stored in the freezer. On Monday I will be conducting the ELISA.
March 8, 2017
I'M CERTIFIED
I got a Human Subject Research certification this last week. It took a lot of reading but I learned a lot of history and how the law works when it comes to the rights people have. In doing this certification I have a new perspective and am very appreciative of all the protocols as a researcher I must follow although in the moment they seem cumbersome.
March 8. 2017
THE WISCONSIN CARD SORTING TEST
This is an image of the cards that I made and then used while to tested my classmates. I put down four different categories and explained that they would have to put the stack of cards in the correct categories.
This game has the potential to induce stress because there is no way to win. As more time goes by and one wrong after another is said anxiety can be produced.Â
The results I have been getting from my classmate is that it was more calming or fun than stressful. However, their heart rates increased pointing that this did induce some stress even if they said they were having fun. I feel I have to do more testing with this game to conclude whether this is a good method to induce stress.Â
Unexpectedly, one of my classmates figured out the game so they were always getting it correct. It was interesting dealing with someone who actually cracked the game. However, even more, interestingly her heart rate still went up. I'm still not sure what to make of this situation.
Based on my classmates' feedback if I do use this test I will make it a simple computer game in order to illuminate and human error.
March 5, 2017
EDITING
I had a hard time editing my proposal. I read about 6 new articles over the past three weeks. In the last week, I have taken what I learned from those articles and added to my proposal draft. From the articles I read, I learned most about the gaps in this research field. In reading these articles I have shifted my purpose to trying to address a gap that was brought up in the articles I read. I found that a lot of the studies did not look into the specifics of music. what I mean by that is whether music the type of music or the personal preference of the subject affects the reaction to music. Also whether music has a profound effect on the brain or is it should just be categorized as a pleasurable act.