Health
Reducing Stress at USC Labs
January 26, 2010 7:35 AM
Trojans can de-stress at the new stress reduction labs on the University Park and Health Sciences campuses.
The centerpiece of the lab, created by the USC Center for Work and Family Life, is a biofeedback program that measures heart rate data through a finger or ear clip sensor plugged into a computer.
Jason Sackett of the USC School of Social Work said that focusing on maintaining a consistent breathing pattern and visualizing positive emotions helps establish high coherence: that is, regularity in the user’s heart rate, which in turn leads to a reduction in stress hormones over time.
The computer program translates the heart rhythms into colorful graphics displayed in real time, allowing users to see the effects their thoughts have on their heart.
Initial training sessions last 30 minutes; subsequent sessions can be self-monitored and last from five to 15 minutes, depending on user preferences.
The UPC lab is located in University Village Suite E206. The Health Sciences lab is in Room 233B of the Center for Health Professions.
For more information, call (213) 821-0800.
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USC in the News
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
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The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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