Dissertation Defence: Autonomic Patterns for Presence and Absence
June 29 at 11:00 am - 3:00 pm
Lisa van den Beld, supervised by Dr. Brian O’Connor, will defend their dissertation titled “Autonomic Patterns for Presence and Absence: An Idiographic Investigation of Mind–Body Dynamics” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychological Sciences.
An abstract for Lisa van den Beld’s dissertation is included below.
Examinations are open to all members of the campus community as well as the general public. Registration is not required for in-person exams.
Abstract
This dissertation investigated the autonomic physiological correlates of two fundamental experiential states: presence and absence. Presence was defined as self-regulated attention to present-moment experience, while absence reflected a lack of such attention, encompassing constructs such as mindlessness and normative dissociation. Guided by Polyvagal Theory (PVT), the study hypothesized that these two states would be associated with distinct patterns of autonomic activity across cardiac and respiratory domains.
A repeated single-case design was employed with five participants over 20 days using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and ambulatory physiological monitoring. Participants provided reports of presence or absence in response to smartphone prompts, which were temporally linked to data collected via wearable sensors. Measures included heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (RMSSD), respiratory rate, and tidal volume. A movement meditation, hypothesized to foster embodied presence, was practiced for 10 days. Analyses focused on within-person patterns using permutation-based approaches, with physiological variables standardized relative to each individual’s baseline.
Results demonstrated both increases and decreases in reports of presence across the study. Physiologically, two sets of patterns for presence and absence emerged, providing preliminary evidence that presence and absence may be associated with identifiable autonomic signatures. One pattern was primarily characterized by cardiac indicators (lower HR and higher RMSSD during absence), and another by respiratory patterns (higher respiratory rate during absence). These findings provided partial support for the hypothesized distinction between presence and absence, while also suggesting that individual differences in arousal and/or valence perception can drive autonomic correlates. While PVT provides a useful organizing framework, incorporating self-reports of arousal may be necessary for a more complete account of the physiological organization of momentary conscious experience in naturalistic contexts.
Importantly, the analysis and interpretation of physiological activity depended on a within-person frame of reference, highlighting the importance of within-person approaches in psychophysiology. The findings further suggest that idiographic and ecologically valid methodologies are critical for advancing the understanding of mind – body relationships in naturalistic settings.
