NEEDLE FEAR IN THE BRAIN
IT’S AS IF AN ALARM BELL GOES OFF IN YOUR BRAIN AS SOON AS YOU SEE A NEEDLE OR SIMPLY THINK ABOUT IT. THE BODY STARTS TO REACT, FOR EXAMPLE BY YOUR HEART RATE GOING UP, YOUR BREATHING QUICKENING OR YOU START SWEATING. SOMETIMES SOMEONE PASSES OUT BEFOREHAND. THIS GIVES YOU A FEELING OF ANXIETY AND UNSAFETY. BECAUSE THESE NEGATIVE FEELINGS ARE FEEDBACK TO THE BRAIN, THE ALARM BELL GOES OFF EVEN LOUDER. IN SHORT: YOUR BODY GETS THE SIGNAL THAT SOMETHING DANGEROUS IS GOING ON, WHILE IN REALITY THIS IS NOT THE CASE. IF YOU’VE EVER FAINTED FROM A Prick, YOU’RE AFRAID OF FAINTING AGAIN. THIS IS CALLED FEAR OF THE FEAR, WHICH JUST MAKES IT EVEN HARDER TO GET RID OF YOUR FEAR.
BRAIN SCANS HAVE TOLD US THAT SIMPLY SEEING NEEDLES PREPARES THE BRAIN FOR HOW ANNOYING THE NEEDLE WILL BE AND HOW IT NEEDS TO PROTECT THE BODY AGAINST IT. IT’S ALMOST AS IF WE’RE ‘PRE-PROGRAMMED’ TO REACT STRONGLY TO NEEDLES, BLOOD, AND INJURIES. YOUR BRAIN AND BODY RESPOND TO THEM QUICKLY, UNCONSCIOUSLY, AND AUTOMATICALLY. YOU DON’T FEEL THESE PROCESSES UNTIL THEY’VE ESCALATED. IN TRULY DANGEROUS SITUATIONS, THIS COMES IN HANDY, BUT IN THE EVENT OF A PUNCH, IT JUST GETS IN THE WAY.
WHY IS NEEDLE FEAR SO DIFFICULT TO SOLVE?
BECAUSE THESE PROCESSES IN THE BRAIN BEGIN WELL BEFORE THE PUNCH AND ESCALATE AT THE MOMENT OF THE PUNCH. PEOPLE OFTEN ENTER THE PUNCH ROOM VERY TENSE. THE HEALTHCARE PROVIDER GIVING YOU THE PUNCH DOES THEIR BEST TO REASSURE OR DISTRACTE YOU. IT’S WELL-INTENDED, BUT INEFFECTIVE BECAUSE YOUR BRAIN IS SIMPLY UNRESPONSIVE. IN SHORT, IT COMES TOO LATE.
THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ELISABETH AND JUDITA ARE CONDUCTING RESEARCH ON NEEDLE FEAR AND THE EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL REACTIONS TO THEM THROUGH THE FAINT STUDY. THE GOAL OF THE FAINT STUDY IS TO DEVELOP A TECHNIQUE THAT CAN DETECT YOUR FACIAL COLOR BY DETECTING WHETHER YOU ARE EXPERIENCING VERY EARLY SIGNS OF ANXIETY AND FAINTING, BEFORE YOU REALIZE IT YOURSELF. THIS TECHNIQUE FORMED THE BASIS OF AINAR. FAINT IS FUNDED BY THE NETHERLANDS ORGANIZATION FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (WWW.NWO.NL), TILBURG UNIVERSITY, AND SANQUIN.
THE STUDIES
IN OUR INITIAL STUDY, WE USED A WELL-KNOWN ILLUSION (THE “RUBBER ARM ILLUSION”),WHICH ALLOWS US TO RECREATE THE “FEELING” OF A BLOOD DRAW IN THE LAB WITHOUT ACTUALLY GIVING YOU A NEEDLE.
WE CAN MAKE YOUR BRAIN RESPOND TO A FAKE ARM JUST AS IT WOULD TO YOUR REAL ARM. WE DO THIS BY STROKING THE BRUSH OVER THE FAKE ARM AND DOING THE EXACT SAME THING ON THE REAL ARM. THIS MAKES THE BRAIN FEEL AND SEE EXACTLY THE SAME THING, AND IT STARTS TO BELIEVE THAT THIS FAKE ARM IS NOW PART OF ITS OWN BODY. YOU THEN SEE A BLOOD DRAW BEING TAKEN ON YOUR FAKE ARM. WE FILMED THE PARTICIPANTS WITH A ‘REGULAR’ CAMERA AND AN INFRARED CAMERA. WE ALSO REGULARLY ASKED PEOPLE HOW THEY FEEL. WE DO ABOUT THE SAME THING WITH PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY GET THE BLOOD DRAWINGS, NAMELY BLOOD DONORS! USING THIS DATASET, WE DEVELOP ALGORITHMS THAT CAN PREDICT YOUR FAIRNESS FROM FACIAL IMAGES ALONE. AND BETTER YET, HOW YOU WILL FEEL DURING A TEST.
THE MAGIC OF AINAR
KNOWLEDGE IS ONE PART OF THE PUZZLE. HOW TO HELP PEOPLE WITH THIS IS THE SECOND PART.
WITH OUR ALGORITHM, WE CAN ‘SEE’ IF SOMEONE IS GOING WRONG, BEFORE THEY CAN FEEL IT THEMSELVES. WE CAN INTERVENE AT A VERY EARLY TIME. WE DO THIS THROUGH OUR GAME, AINAR. THE ALGORITHM READS HOW YOU’RE DOING, AND BASED ON THAT, IT CONTROLS THE WEATHER IN THE GAME. IF YOU SHOW EARLY SIGNS OF ANXIETY OR FAINTING, IT WILL RAIN. IF YOU BECOME CALM, THE SUN WILL SHINE AGAIN. THE WEATHER IS A DIRECT REFLECTION OF HOW YOU’RE DOING. THIS PRINCIPLE IS SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN AND IS CALLED BIOFEEDBACK.
PUBLICATIONS
RUDOKAITE J, ERTUGRUL IO, ONG S, JANSSEN MP, HUIS IN ‘T VELD E. PREDICTING VASOVAGAL REACTIONS TO NEEDLES FROM FACIAL ACTION UNITS. J CLIN MED. 2023:12(4).
RUDOKAITE J, ONG LLSM, ONAL ERTUGRUL I, JANSSEN MP, HUIS IN ‘T VELD EMJ. PREDICTING VASOVAGAL REACTIONS TO NEEDLES WITH ANTICIPATORY FACIAL TEMPERATURE PROFILES. SCI REP. 2023;13(1):9667.
RUDOKAITE J, ONG LS, JANSSEN MP, POSTMA E, HUIS IN ‘T VELD E. PREDICTING VASOVAGAL REACTIONS TO A VIRTUAL BLOOD DONATION USING FACIAL IMAGE ANALYSIS. TRANSFUSION. 2022;62(4):838-47.
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