Vibrations' Influence on Human Physiology

Abstract

Vibrations of one type or another are present almost every minute of our daily lives. Much research has been done on high-frequency vibrations influence on human physiology, though less is known about the impact of low-frequency vibrations. This thesis investigates low frequency, whole-body vibrations influence on human physiology. We ve attempted to determine if there is a correlation between resting heart rate and vibration magnitude in 40 adult test-subjects exposed to intervals of differing vibration magnitude. 40 students (age 19 to 34) were subjected to five consecutive 4-minute intervals of differing whole-body vibrations, with constant amplitude of 5 cm. A significant (p < 0.02) reduction in mean heart rate was found between interval 3 (0.52 Hz) and interval 4 (0.28 Hz). No other significant changes between consecutive intervals were found, though a general decrease in heart rate over time was observed. These results could indicate that a reduction in vibration magnitude has a relaxing effect on the human body, though further studies are needed to verify this. The results of this thesis suggest that heart rate alone does not provide sufficient information about vibrations effect on human physiology. Future studies should consider additional physiological factors to monitor when conducting this type of experiment.