HSE Scientists Propose Using Heart Rate Analysis to Diagnose Anxiety and Depression
A group of scientists at HSE University have discovered how anxiety and depression can be diagnosed by analysing heart rate. It turns out that under mental stress, the heart rate of individuals with a predisposition to mental health disorders differs from that of healthy individuals, especially when performing more complex tasks. These changes in cardiovascular parameters can even be detected using a pulse oximeter or a smartwatch. The study findings have been published in Frontiers in Psychiatry.
According to the World Health Organization, one in five adults under the age of 30 suffers from depression or an anxiety disorder. To prevent the development of mental health conditions and treat them effectively, reliable personalised diagnostic methods are needed.
Today, many technology companies are developing mental health analysis systems based on heart rate data. Various wearable devices, such as smartwatches, bracelets, rings, and others, are used for this purpose. However, it is important not only to record changes in heart rate but also to interpret them accurately.
Scientists at HSE University, in collaboration with the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, conducted a study to determine whether signs of depression and anxiety can be detected through changes in heart rate during cognitive tasks. They performed an experiment with 90 subjects, aged 18 to 45, some of whom had a history of anxiety and depression episodes.
Participants completed memory and attention tasks that gradually increased in complexity: they were instructed to view images of coloured balls and compare each one with the previous one to identify colour matches. As the difficulty level increased, participants had to memorise more balls and colours.
During the experiment, participants' heart rates were recorded using an electrocardiogram (ECG), while simultaneously photoplethysmography (PPG) was conducted to analyse heart function based on changes in blood volume in peripheral vessels. This simple, non-invasive method allows data to be read from the finger or wrist; PPG is the technology used in all wearable devices today.
Data analysis revealed that individuals with higher levels of anxiety or depression exhibited more pronounced changes in heart rate, particularly during complex tasks.
'When faced with a challenging task, people experience stress. They can make mistakes, which is normal and does not necessarily indicate a mental health issue. However, at a critical point of increasing complexity—when the task is still manageable but requires maximum attention—individuals with signs of mental disorders exhibit a higher average heart rate, resulting in a more pronounced and distinct pattern of heart rate variability,' explains Evgeniia Alshanskaia, Junior Research Fellow at the Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience.
A key aspect of the experiment was the comparison of data obtained using EEG and PPG. Although EEG is traditionally regarded as a more reliable method for measuring heart rate variability, the study indicated that PPG might be a more sensitive tool for assessing depression and anxiety. The scientists attribute this to the specific characteristics of the sympathetic nervous system.
'Under stress, noradrenaline, which is linked to attention, is activated first, followed by the activation of adrenaline, which prepares the body for action and triggers the "fight or flight" response. Our heart rate increases, and our blood pressure rises. Noradrenaline also acts on receptors that induce vasoconstriction. At this stage, changes in the pulse wave can be observed using PPG. Only afterward is adrenaline released from the adrenal glands, which amplifies and prolongs the body's stress response, causing the heart to beat faster. Subsequently, changes are observed on the ECG. This indicates that PPG is a relatively reliable method that is also more accessible, faster, and informative compared to ECG,' according to Alshanskaia.
The study demonstrates that changes in heart rate in response to increasing cognitive load can serve as an early biomarker for anxiety and depressive disorders. Additionally, the findings from the experiment open new opportunities for developing algorithms for wearable devices and applications that can monitor a person’s psychological state in real time. Early, personalised, and non-invasive diagnosis of depressive and anxiety disorders through heart rate analysis could significantly transform the approaches to treatment and prevention of mental health conditions in the future.
The study was conducted within the framework of the Strategic Project 'Success and Self-Sustainability of the Individual in a Changing World' (Priority 2030 programme).
See also:
HSE Economists Use Search Queries to Forecast Birth Rates
Researchers from the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences have shown that the accuracy of birth rate forecasts for Russia can be improved by almost 50% by incorporating the dynamics of online search queries related to pregnancy and childbirth into forecasting models. In the best-performing models, the forecasting error fell from 4.6% to 3.2%. The findings have been published in Populations and Economics.
HSE Researchers Discover Who Eats Out in Russia—And Why
Around one-third of Russians (31.3%) rarely eat out or buy ready-made meals. The core group of active consumers—those who eat out or purchase prepared food almost every day or several times a week—accounts for only about 9% of the population. These are the findings of a study conducted by the HSE Institute for Social Policy. According to the researchers eating out is no longer a marker of high social status in Russia.
Scientists Model How Interactions Between Societies Can Trigger Chaotic Behaviour
Scientists at HSE MIEM have proposed a mathematical model explaining how interactions between societies can influence their stability. Based on the classical theory of evolutionary games, the study reveals an unexpected effect: even a weak informational influence of one society on another can cause one society to remain stable while the other exhibits chaotic behaviour among its individual members. The study has been published in the International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos.
Ancient Craniiform Brachiopod: A Newly Discovered Species with a Unique Shell Shape and Lifestyle
Scientists from HSE University, MSU, and Tallinn University of Technology have studied a fossil species of ancient brachiopods that lived in a warm sea in what is now northern Estonia more than 445 million years ago. These ancient brachiopods developed a cup-shaped shell with a protective 'cap' that shielded them from overgrowth by other marine organisms. The study has been published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
Scientists Develop Bacterium-Sized Microlaser
An international team of researchers, including scientists from HSE University–St Petersburg, has developed microlasers that emit deep-ultraviolet light at a wavelength of 255 nanometres. The devices operate at room temperature, and the smallest of them measures just two micrometres in diameter—roughly the size of a bacterium. These microlasers could be used in sensors, spectroscopic systems, photonic chips, and communication devices. The paper has been published in Optics & Laser Technology.
HSE Develops App for Assessing Phonological Processing in Children
Researchers at the HSE Centre for Language and Brain have developed a new digital tool for assessing children's phonological processing skills—the ZARYA (Sound Analysis of the Russian Language) test battery. It is the first standardised application in Russia designed to provide a fast and reliable assessment of children's ability to distinguish speech sounds, retain them in working memory, and perform phonemic analysis. The app runs on Android tablets and smartphones and is available for download from RuStore. Details of the test validation have been published in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.
Researchers Discover How Spelling Errors Slow Down Reading in Russian
Psycholinguists from the Centre for Language and Brain at HSE University–St Petersburg have shown that words that are frequently misspelled are processed more slowly by readers, even when presented with the correct spelling. The researchers confirmed this effect for the first time using Russian-language materials and found that response speed is most strongly linked to how confidently individuals can distinguish the correct spelling of a word from an incorrect one. The study has been published in The Mental Lexicon.
Scientists Discover Why Europium 'Misbehaves'
Europium is a rare-earth metal responsible for the pure red glow in displays and other luminescent materials. For a long time, however, it refused to emit light when surrounded by certain organic molecules known as acylpyrazolone ligands. Chemists have now uncovered the reason: in europium complexes with these ligands, a 'black window' appears—a charge-transfer state in which the energy absorbed by the ligand is dissipated as heat rather than emitted as light. Understanding this mechanism opens the way to designing more efficient red-emitting materials for displays, fluorescent thermometers, and chemical sensors. The results have been published in Dalton Transactions.
HSE Economists Reveal How the Wage Gap Emerges Among Vocational School Graduates
HSE researchers examined the careers of 600,000 graduates of Russian secondary vocational education programmes and found that at the start of their careers, the gender wage gap reaches 23%, doubling after three years. This disparity is largely due to male and female students choosing different occupations when enrolling in vocational schools. These were the findings made by Sergey Roshchin, Natalya Yemelina, and Ksenia Rozhkova from of the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences. The article has been published in Educational Studies.
HSE Researchers Make Aldehydes Perform Dual Function
Chemists from HSE University have discovered a way to carry out a reductive addition reaction without using an external reducing agent. Instead, the required 'resource' is supplied by the aldehyde itself, one of the reaction participants. This approach helps prevent unwanted side reactions, reduces toxicity, and simplifies the production and synthesis of organic molecules, including those used in the manufacture of medicines. The study has been published in Journal of Catalysis.