conclusion for pulse rate experiment

January 2, 2014

Sweaty Science: How Does Heart Rate Change with Exercise?

A physical pursuit from Science Buddies

By Science Buddies

Key concepts The heart Heart rate Health Exercise

Introduction Have you ever wondered how many times your heart beats in a day, a month, a year—or will beat in total throughout your life? Over an average lifetime, the human heart beats more than 2.5 billion times. For a person to keep their heart healthy, they should eat right, not smoke and get regular exercise. In this science activity, you'll measure your heart rate during different types of physical activities to find out which gives your heart the best workout to help keep it fit.

Background A 150-pound adult has about 5.5 liters of blood on average, which the heart circulates about three times every minute. A person's heart is continuously beating to keep the blood circulating. Heart health experts say that the best ways to keep our hearts healthy is through a balanced diet, avoiding smoking and regular exercise. 

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Exercise that is good for your heart should elevate your heart rate. But by how much, for how long and how often should your heart rate be elevated? This has to do with how fit you are and your maximum heart rate, which, for adults, is about 220 beats per minute (bpm) minus your age. For example, if you are 30 years old, your maximum heart rate would be 190 bpm. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends doing exercise that increases a person's heart rate to between 50 to 85 percent of their maximum heart rate. This range is called the target heart rate zone. The AHA recommends a person gets at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise—exercise that elevates their heart rate to the target heart rate zone—on most days of the week, or a total of about 150 minutes a week. 

Materials • Scrap piece of paper • Pen or pencil • Clock or timer that shows seconds or a helper with a watch • Comfortable exercise clothes (optional) • Simple and fun exercise equipment, such as a jump rope, bicycle, hula-hoop, two-pound weight, etc. Alternatively you can do exercises that do not require equipment, such as walking, doing jumping jacks, jogging in place, etc. You will want to do at least two different types of exercises, both of which you can sustain for 15 minutes. (Remember to always stop an exercise if you feel faint.)  • Calculator

Preparation • Practice finding your pulse. Use the first two fingers of one hand to feel your radial pulse on the opposite wrist. You should find your radial pulse on the "thumb side" of your wrist, just below the base of your hand. Practice finding your pulse until you can do it quickly. (You can alternatively take your carotid pulse to do this activity, but be sure you know how to safely take it and press on your neck only very lightly with your fingers.) • Measure your resting heart rate, which is your heart rate when you are awake but relaxed, such as when you have been lying still for several minutes. To do this, take your pulse when you have been resting and multiply the number of beats you count in 10 seconds by six. This will give you your resting heart rate in beats per minute (bpm). What is your resting heart rate? Write it on a scrap piece of paper. • You will be measuring your heart rate during different types of physical exercises over a period of 15 minutes. Choose at least two different exercises. Some examples include jumping rope, lifting a two-pound weight, riding a bike, hula-hooping, walking, etc. Gather any needed materials. (If you want to make a homemade hula-hoop, steps for doing this are given in the activity Swiveling Science: Applying Physics to Hula-Hooping .) Do you think the activities will affect your heart rate differently? How do you think doing each activity will affect your heart rate?

Procedure • Choose which exercise you want to do first. Before starting it, make sure you have been resting for a few minutes so that your heart is at its resting heart rate.  • Perform the first exercise for 15 minutes. While you do this, write down the number of beats you count in 10 seconds after one, two, five, 10 and 15 minutes of activity. (You want to quickly check your pulse because it can start to slow within 15 seconds of stopping exercising.) How do the number of beats you count change over time? How did you feel by the end of the exercise? • Calculate your heart rate after one, two, five, 10 and 15 minutes of exercise by multiplying the number of beats you counted (in 10 seconds) by six. How did your heart rate (in bpm) change over time? • Repeat this process for at least one other exercise. Leave enough time between the exercises so that your heart rate returns to around its normal resting level (this should only take a few minutes). How did you feel by the end of the second exercise? How did your heart rate change over time for this exercise?  • Take a look at the results you wrote down for this activity. Which exercise increased your heart rate the most? Which exercise increased your heart rate the fastest? Which exercise(s) elevated your heart rate to the target heart rate zone (50 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate, where your maximum heart rate is 220 bpm minus your age)? Do you notice any consistent patterns in your results? • Extra: Try this activity again but test different physical exercises. How does your heart rate change when you do other exercises? How are the changes similar and how are they different? • Extra: Measure your heart rate while lying down, while sitting down, and while standing. How does your heart rate change with body position?  • Extra: Repeat this activity with other healthy volunteers. How does their heart rate compare to yours? How does their change in heart rate while exercising compare to how yours changed?  • Extra: Try this activity again but vary the intensity of your exercise. What intensity level elevates your heart rate to 50 percent of its maximum heart rate? What about nearly 85 percent of its maximum? Be sure not to exceed your recommended target heart rate zone while exercising! Observations and results After just a minute of exercise, did you see your heart rate reach its target heart rate zone? Did it initially jump higher for a more strenuous exercise, like hula-hooping, compared to a more moderately intense exercise, such as walking?

If you did a moderately intense exercise, such as walking, you may have seen an initial jump in your heart rate (where your heart rate falls within the lower end of your target heart rate zone within about one minute of exercise), but then your heart rate only slowly increased after that. After 15 minutes, you may have reached the middle of your target heart rate zone. To reach the upper end, people usually need to do a moderately intense exercise for a longer amount of time (such as for 30 minutes). If you did a more strenuous exercise—hula-hooping, for example—you may have seen a higher initial bump in your heart rate (such as reaching the middle of your target heart rate zone after just one minute of exercise), and then your heart rate stayed about the same for the remaining 14 minutes of exercise. Overall doing a more strenuous exercise generally raises a person's heart rate faster compared to doing an exercise that is only moderately intense.

More to explore Target Heart Rates , from the American Heart Association Cut to the Heart , from NOVA and PBS Life's Simple 7—Get Active , from the American Heart Association Heart Health: How Does Heart Rate Change with Exercise? , from Science Buddies

This activity brought to you in partnership with  Science Buddies

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Practical hints on measuring pulse rate

Investigating the effect of exercise on heart rate/pulse rate.

You can find out how fast your heart is beating, that is your heart rate, by feeling your pulse. The wave of pressure which passes down an artery as a result of each heart beat is felt as a pulse when an artery is near the surface of the body and runs over a bone.

Finding the pulse

You can find the pulse in your wrist by turning your hand palm-side up. Gently place the middle and index finger of your other hand on the inside of the wrist at the base of the thumb. Press your fingers down in the groove between your middle tendons and your outside bone.

Do not use your thumb to feel the pulse as it has a pulse of its own.

You can also use a pulse in your neck region. To find this pulse, place your fingers gently on one side of your neck, below your jawbone and halfway between your main neck muscles and windpipe.

Do not press too hard when measuring your pulse.

Extension investigation on the effect of exercise on heart rate/pulse rate

For an extra investigation, some groups could choose one pupil to be the subject. The subject should then do two minutes of exercise again. Their pulse rate is measured immediately after this as before and then at one minute intervals until the pulse rate has returned to the resting rate. The fitter a person is the quicker the rate will return to normal.

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• Human Transport Systems: The Pulse Rate Experiment Words: 1438
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Physical Health Indicator: Pulse Rate Experiment

Introduction.

Pulse rate is an essential indicator of a person’s health and fitness. According to Arena et al., “cardiorespiratory fitness, determined by exercise testing, is considered a vital sign” (180). Therefore, by examining a person’s pulse, a health professional can gain an understanding of their physical state. With exercise, the pulse rate of an individual increases because one’s body requires more oxygen to facilitate the movements.

An examination of a person’s pulse can provide insight into their health, especially when measuring the before and after the pulse of an individual engaged in exercise. In this experiment, I asked individuals to walk a flight of stairs. They were instructed to take a fast pace when running up and down the staircase. This lab report aimed to examine the pulse of individuals after strenuous physical activity. This was comparable to daily activities a person can be engaged in during physical training and other exercising to explore the pulse rate as an indicator of physical health. The tested hypothesis was that if a person walks briskly up and also down a flight of stairs, their heart rate will increase.

This experiment aimed to examine the pulse rate of people who walked up and down the stairs. For this lab experiment, four people aged forty years old and older were asked to run up and down the stairs tow times. I measured their pulse for 30 seconds and multiplied each value. The main question tested in this experiment was whether the pulse of these people would increase after a strenuous exercise. The dependent variable was the pulse rate, and the independent variable is exercise. The control was the measurement of the pulse before the training begins.

Since the pulse of the four participants was measured twice during the experiment, it was necessary to examine and compare both values. Table 1 presents an assessment of the results and Column 1 is the pulse rate of each participant before the experiment, which is considered to be their regular pulse. Column 2 in Table 1 is the pulse after the test, which is the dependent variable of this experiment. The difference between the two measures was calculated by subtracting the value of the subject’s pulse before the exercise from the value after. An increase in the pulse was observed during this experiment for all four subjects.

Additionally, during the procedure, the pulse was measured for 30 seconds, and to obtain accurate results, each outcome, before and after exercise, was multiplied by two to obtain a pulse measure for sixty seconds. The following are the calculations for each Subject:

• Subject 1: 40×2=80; 63×2=126
• Subject 2: 39×2=78; 55×2=110
• Subject 3: 38×2=76; 74×2=148
• Subject 3: 33×2=66; 66×2=132

Additionally, the average increase of the subjects pulse was calculated using the following formula:

Average pulse increase = (46+32+72+66)/4=54.

Table 1. Results of the experiment (created by the author).

The hypothesis that this experiment aimed to test is whether the heart rate of a person walking up and down the stairs quickly will increase. The results supported the hypothesis since all four subjects of this experiment experienced an increase in their pulse. The most significant increase was observed in Subject 4, whose initial pulse prior to exercising was estimated at 76 and after the exercising reached 148. Based on the obtained data, one can argue that strenuous exercise, such as walking briskly up and down the stairs, affects a person’s pulse by increasing it.

Other experiments that can help test the hypothesis further will be based on an exercise in different environments and different types of physical activity. For example, future experiments may focus on the difference between exercises that requires strength and cardio activities, comparing the difference in the pulse increase of subjects participating in each study. One problem that was not addressed in this experiment is the lack of attention to the initial pulse and outcome pulse, as illustrated by Subject 4.

The participant’s pulse before the exercise was the highest out of the four subjects, and after running up and down the stairs, Subject 4 displayed a high pulse rate as well. Additionally, I would like to examine the difference in pulse after exercise of physically fit subjects compared to those who do not exercise, since this experiment did not account for the difference in physical state.

The difference can be connected to the individual’s overall health and can be examined more in-depth in future research. In the future, issues with the experiment will be addressed by conducting experiments with individuals whose initial pulse is high. Another experiment that will help test the hypothesis about the pulse of individuals during exercise can involve different exercise settings, such as gym training or running. I would like to conduct an experiment that tests a hypothesis regarding the decrease of the pulse at rest after consistent exercising for several weeks. This study will help understand whether a person can improve his or her health state through regular exercises since the pulse is a vital health state indicator.

Arena, Ross, et al. “Peak Oxygen Pulse Responses During Maximal Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing: Reference Standards From FRIEND (Fitness Registry and the Importance of Exercise: an International Database).” International Journal of Cardiology, vol. 301, 2020, pp. 180–182.

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Practical Biology

A collection of experiments that demonstrate biological concepts and processes.

Observing earthworm locomotion

Practical Work for Learning

Published experiments

Investigating factors affecting the heart rate of daphnia, class practical.

Thanks to the British Pharmacological Society for providing the teaching notes on this practical.

With modifications made by Prof Richard Handy, University of Plymouth

Lesson organisation

This will depend on access to a healthy culture of Daphnia and on the number of microscopes you have. Students can readily follow this procedure working in pairs. Because of the variability of results between individual Daphnia, it is not appropriate to draw conclusions from one set of results; each pair (or group) of students should carry out more than one investigation to contribute to the class set.

One option is to record a live video of a sample Daphnia , during a time period in which students count the heart beats. Then you replay the video in slow motion and count the heart beats again. This allows students to consider the accuracy of their counting.

If your time or access to chemicals is limited, you could allow the students to work through the procedure in order to evaluate it and then use the example results provided for analysis.

Apparatus and Chemicals

For each group of students:.

Microscope – low power, transmission

Small piece of cotton wool

Pasteur pipette (for water from the Daphnia culture tank)

Chemicals that may affect the heart rate – at low concentrations ( Note 4 )

For the class – set up by technician/ teacher:

Culture of water flea – Daphnia ( Note 1 )

Water from Daphnia culture tank at different temperatures – 0 °C (in an ice bath), 10 °C (by adding ice to a water bath), 20 °C, 30 °C and 40 °C (in water baths) ( Note 2)

Ethanol, 1% and 10%, 10 cm 3 of each ( Note 3 )

Health & Safety and Technical notes

With Daphnia cultured in the laboratory, fed on yeast, Liquifry No.1, Spirulina or egg-yolk medium, there are no significant hazards associated with this procedure. With pond water culture, or other sources of food, more careful hygiene precautions are necessary.

Read our standard health & safety guidance

1 Keeping live cultures of Daphnia : These notes are based on information in the CLEAPSS Laboratory Handbook. You will find more details in section L56. Daphnia are crustaceans, commonly found in ponds and lakes and widely sold as live fish food. These animals are fascinating objects for observation and study in their own right. They feed by filtering minute particles such as bacteria and algae, from the fresh water in which they live.

Daphnia can be kept in any watertight container containing tap water that has been allowed to stand for a few days. Keeping a few Daphnia is not difficult, but cultivating a vigorous, dense colony requires some care. A good supply of oxygen is necessary, either by aeration or by using a large shallow tank to ensure that a large surface area of water is exposed to the air. Warming the water to about 15 °C also ensures rapid growth of the colony.

You can purchase live cultures from suppliers, including pet shops and local aquarists. Some scientific suppliers sell viable dried Daphnia eggs and culture kits. Alternatively, you can collect adult Daphnia by pond dipping; in this case you must observe strict hygiene procedures, since pollutants and the bacteria causing Weil’s disease may contaminate pond water. Stock purchased from aquarists is usually free from this hazard.

The safest, most hygienic and most convenient ways to provide the necessary food for a colony of Daphnia is to feed them on a few drops of a suspension of fresh yeast or of egg-yolk medium (made by blending a hard-boiled egg in 500 cm 3 of water). Alternatively, you can buy food such as Liquifry No 1 or Spirulina powder from aquarists or scientific suppliers.

Small, regular supplies of food are required. Provide only sufficient to cause the water to turn faintly cloudy. After a few days the Daphnia will have filtered out the suspended particles of food, making the water clear once more, which is your cue to add more food. Clear scum from the surface of the water; but leave debris that sinks to the bottom – it may contain Daphnia eggs.

2 Instead of heating water in a water bath, you could surround the Daphnia in the Petri dish with a circular heating coil connected to a 6V battery. This will gradually heat the water in the dish, and the cardiac frequency can be estimated at 5 °C or 10 °C intervals. An additional, larger dish outside the small one could also be filled with water at the appropriate temperature to help reduce heat loss from the experimental chamber.

3 Ethanol (IDA) Hazcard 40A is highly flammable and harmful because of the presence of methanol. Once diluted to 10% and 1%, this is low hazard for the students using the liquid.

4 Physiologically-active compounds: (Refer to Hazcard 3C) Each compound will have different hazards and associated risk control measures. Acetylcholine is an irritant (to eyes, respiratory system and skin) and is used at a concentration of 1 g in 1000 cm 3 of water. L-adrenaline (epinephrine) is toxic by inhalation, in contact with the skin and if swallowed. Used by students at a concentration of 1 g in 1000 cm 3 of water it is low hazard. Caffeine is harmful if swallowed (!). 0.3 g in 1000 cm 3 of water is similar to the concentration of caffeine in an ordinary cup of coffee or a cola drink and so is low hazard for the students (see also Hazcard 103). Aspirin (o-acetylsalicylic acid) is harmful if swallowed, but a soluble tablet dissolved according to the manufacturers’ instructions would give a suitable concentration to use in the investigation at low hazard to the students. In each case, add one drop to 5 cm 3 of water before applying to the Daphnia .

5 Heating due to the microscope lamp: When working with organisms under a microscope, the effects of heating due to the microscope lamp itself can be significant. Turning the lamp on only when observing the Daphnia will help, and LED microscopes produce less heat than those with incandescent lamps.

Ethical issues

Teachers should be careful to introduce these animals in a way that promotes a good ethical attitude towards them and not a simply instrumental one. Although they are simple organisms that may not 'suffer' in the same way as higher animals, they still deserve respect. Animals should be returned promptly to the holding tank after being examined. This supports ethical approaches that are appropriate to field work where pond animals are returned to their habitat after observations have been made.

SAFETY: Take care handling any chemicals that might affect the heart rate of Daphnia . Observe normal, good laboratory hygiene practices when completing the practical.

Preparation

a Take a small piece of cotton wool, tease it out and place it in the middle of a small Petri dish.

b Select a large Daphnia and use a pipette to transfer it onto the cotton wool fibres.

c Immediately add pond water to the Petri dish until the animal is just covered by the water.

d Place the Petri dish on the stage of a microscope and observe the animal under low power. The beating heart is located on the dorsal side just above the gut and in front of the brood pouch (see diagram). Make sure that you are counting the heart beats, and not the flapping of the gills or movements of the gut. The heart must be observed with transmitted light if it is to be properly visible.

e Use a stopwatch to time 20 seconds, and count the number of heart beats in several periods of 20 seconds. The heart beat of Daphnia is very rapid, so count the beats by making dots on a piece of paper in the shape of a letter S. Count the dots and express heart rate as number of beats per minute.

f At the end of the investigation, return the Daphnia to the stock culture.

Investigating the effect of temperature

g Record the temperature of the water in the Petri dish.

h Add pond water at a different temperature to the Petri dish. Allow the Daphnia some time to acclimatise, but keep a check on the temperature of the water in the dish and add more hot or cool pond water if necessary to adjust the temperature.

i Record the heart rate again as in step e .

j Plot a graph of mean frequency of heart beats per minute against temperature.

Investigating the effect of chemicals

k Take a large Daphnia from the stock culture and record its heart beat at room temperature in pond water (as in step e ).

l Add one drop of 1% ethanol to 5 cm 3 of pond water in a beaker. Mix well. Draw the pond water off the Daphnia with a pipette and replace it with 2 or 3 cm 3 of the water containing ethanol ( Note 3 ). Record the rate of heart beat again.

m Repeat step l using 10% ethanol in place of 1%.

n Repeat with other chemicals such as acetylcholine, L-adrenaline (epinephrine), caffeine or aspirin ( Note 4 ).

Teaching notes

Daphnia is poikilothermic, which means that its body temperature and therefore its metabolic rate are affected directly by the temperature of the environment. The change in metabolic rate is reflected in the rate at which the heart beats (cardiac frequency).

The effect of temperature on a metabolic activity may be expressed in terms of the temperature coefficient (Q 10 ). This is the ratio of the rate of activity at one temperature to its rate at a temperature 10 degrees higher.

Within a range of 10 °C above and below ‘normal’ environmental temperatures, the rate of a metabolic process is expected to double for every 10 °C rise in temperature. Daphnia heart rate has a more complex relation to temperature than a single enzyme-controlled reaction, so Q 10 = 2 is not expected. Above 40 °C and 50 °C, the relation between the two rates will not hold because of the deleterious effects of extreme temperature.

There will be considerable variation in the data gathered. Class results for the heart beat at any temperature should be recorded and mean results (and standard deviation) calculated.

Student notes

Example results:

Background information: chemicals and the heart

Acetylcholine: In humans and many other animals, heart rate is slowed by the parasympathetic nervous system (neurotransmitter: acetylcholine) via activation of cell surface receptors in the sinoatrial node (pacemaker) called acetylcholine muscarinic receptors. This occurs after feeding, during sleep, and during breath-holding and swimming underwater. A slowed heart rate and the associated fall in the rate of ejection of blood from the heart is sufficient to maintain body function during rest, and conserves energy in the heart under conditions where its supply (and the supply of oxygen in the blood) are diminished. A drug that slows heart rate is called a negative chronotrope;  this is demonstrated in this experiment, where acetylcholine is used to slow the rate of the Daphnia 's heart.

Noradrenaline and adrenaline: In contrast, heart rate is increased by the sympathetic nervous system (neurotransmitter: noradrenaline) and the hormone adrenaline circulating in the blood via activation of cell surface receptors in the sinoatrial node - pacemaker) (called beta-1 adrenoceptors). This occurs during exercise or fear. The effect is to increase the rate of ejection of blood by the heart. This means that there will be more blood flow to skeletal muscle (in which exercise causes dilatation of blood vessels), so the skeletal muscle cells are supplied with more oxygen and respiratory substrates used to generate energy in respiration where it is needed. A drug that increases heart rate is called a positive chronotrope, and this is demonstrated in this experiment when adrenaline is used to increase heart rate in Daphnia .

One of the ways adrenaline increases heart rate is through the action of what is known as a 'second messenger' or 'transduction component', in this case it is a chemical made in the cell known as cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). Transduction is the process that follows the action of a drug, hormone or neurotransmitter at a receptor. Thus, when adrenaline activates the beta-1 adrenoceptor in the sinoatrial node, this leads to an increase in cAMP in the sinoatrial node and the result is an increase in heart rate.

Caffeine: Caffeine mimics some of the effects of adrenaline and noradrenaline in the heart. By a different mechanism not involving beta-1 adrenoceptors, caffeine also increases the amount of cAMP in the sinoatrial node. Then cAMP levels increase and this increases the electrical activity of the sinoatrial node, making it depolarize and 'beat' faster. Caffeine has additional effects on the heart. Like adrenaline and noradrenaline, it can affect the main pumping chambers (ventricles), leading to an increase in the rate of contraction and relaxation of each heart beat. This means that, as well as beating faster, the heart's individual beats are associated with an increased volume of blood ejected into the circulation per unit time. This is called increasing cardiac output. Two or three cups of strong coffee or tea contain enough caffeine (and a similar acting compound called theobromine) to cause an increase in human heart rate of 5-20 beats/min.

Ethanol: Ethanol slows heart rate. At the concentrations used in this experiment, ethanol depresses the nervous system by acting as what is known as a non-selective neurodepressant. The amounts of ethanol necessary to achieve this effect in humans would also be sufficient to depress the respiratory centres of the brain, rather like the effect of an overdose of general anaesthetic, resulting in death.

Aspirin : Aspirin has no effect on heart rate. Despite this, aspirin has beneficial effects in the heart. By reducing the ability of platelets to adhere to damaged blood vessel walls, aspirin reduces the chance of coronary artery thrombosis, the event that precipitates a heart attack. People who are take aspirin long-term for medical reasons (because they have cardiovascular disease or diabetes) may have a lower heart rate than controls, simply because they experience less coronary and peripheral thrombosis and thus have a better lubricated cardiovascular system.

Some words of caution The Daphnia ’s heart differs from the human heart in many respects. In terms of heart rate, the Daphnia sinoatrial node is actually a collection of spontaneously active nerves in a body called the cardiac ganglion. This means that it would be risky to extrapolate heart rate findings from Daphnia directly to humans without first validating the model.

Model validation requires examination of a range of positive and negative controls for their effects in the model. To achieve this, the type and extent of the effect in humans at the same drug concentration (the human template) must be known. It is not always possible to obtain such a human template; this is why the outcome of a novel non-human experimental study is of only provisional clinical relevance. Proof of model validity emerges only once human data sets are available.

Health & Safety checked, May 2009

Related experiments

Observing the effects of exercise on the human body Compare the results of this experiment with the results of the investigation into the effects of exercise on human heart rate.

Exercise & Heart Rate Experiments

If you and your child are searching for a good experiment for your local school district science fair and you've never done one before, don't panic -- there are many experiments you can choose from. Experiments that involve exercise and heart rate are relatively easy to do and don't require much in the way of materials.

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When you do a science fair project you need to start out with a theory or prediction and develop a testing method and list of materials for your project. The materials you need for many heart rate experiments are easy to come by: A clock with a second hand or a stopwatch, a pencil and a science notebook or recording sheet. In some experiments you'll also want simple exercise equipment, such as a jump rope or bicycle.

Sample Experiment

A simple experiment is predicting which type of physical activity will raise your heart rate the most. For example, you can test running , walking, riding a bike and jumping rope. After making your prediction, establish a baseline by measuring your resting heart rate. Before starting each activity, make sure to measure your resting heart rate. Leave enough time between activities so that your heart rate returns to its normal resting level. Do each type of exercise for 15 minutes and measure heart rate after 0, 1, 5, 10 and 15 minutes of the activity. You take your heart rate just before you start to ensure your heart rate is back at its resting rate before you start measuring a new activity. Create a graph that shows time vs. heart rate for each.

There are several variations you can use with the experiment that measures which activity raises heart rate the most. For example, make a prediction about which activity will increase your heart rate the fastest, thus causing the greatest slope on your graph. Or, predict which activity is best for elevating your heart rate to your target zone for aerobic exercise, which is 50 to 75 percent of your maximum heart rate. Calculate maximum heart rate with the simple formula 220 minus age.

Another Basic Experiment

Another experiment simply measures the effect of exercise on the human heart. You'll make a prediction about the effect steady exercise such as walking or stepping on and off of a stair for a chosen number of minutes will have. For example, you'll predict that a person's heart rate will continue to increase over time when an exercise is performed at a steady pace. You will measure resting heart rate and then measure heart rate at preset intervals. Perform three or more trials and use an average based on the three trials. For example, in experiment one you may find heart rate goes up to 140 beats per minute after five minutes in the first trial, 148 in the second trial and 146 in the third. The average that you'll use for the five-minute time frame is 145.

• Science Buddies: Science Fair Project Ideas – Heart Health
• National Research Council Canada: Science Experiment: Monitoring Your Heart Rate
• Brian MacKenzie: Maximum Heart Rate
• Ipl.org: Science Fair Project Resource Guide

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How does exercise affect heart rate? Science Investigation

June 30, 2016 By Emma Vanstone 5 Comments

This investigation to find out how exercise affects heart rate is a great way to introduce correct scientific procedures and think about variables that can change and those that need to remain constant.

Exercise increases the rate at which energy is needed from food, increasing the body’s need for both nutrients and oxygen. This is why both pulse/heart rate and breathing rate increase when we exercise.

Pulse rate is an indication of heart rate, as the arteries expand each time the ventricles pump blood out of the heart.

The heart pumps extra food and oxygen to the muscles while breathing speeds up to get more oxygen into the body and remove carbon dioxide.

How does exercise affect heart rate investigation

Use the stethoscopes and timers to record how many heartbeats you can hear in 30 seconds.

Exercise – this could be 30 seconds of star jumps or a mini obstacle course.  

Step 3  

Use the timers and stethoscopes again to record how many heartbeats you can hear in 30 seconds.

Use my handy heart rate and exercise investigation results table to record your results or design your own!

Let’s think scientifically

A scientific investigation should be a fair test, think about what conditions you need to keep the same and what condition you will change. You should also repeat the testing three times and find the average heart rate.

Things to keep the same:

Heartbeats must be counted before and after exercising for the same amount of time .

The person whose heart rate is compared must be the same.

Things to change:  

Heart rate should be measured before and after exercise.

Make a prediction

What effect do you think exercise will have on heart rate?

Why do you think this?

Clue: When you exercise, your muscles need more food and oxygen from your blood, so your heart has to beat faster to transport them.

What is recovery time?  

Recovery time is the time it takes for the heart rate to return to normal. If you have time, can you work out how long this will take you?

During exercise, the pulse rate and breathing rate of a fitter person rise much less than in an unfit person. Fitter people also have a shorter recovery time.

Links to Maths

Design a method of recording your results. Can you work out the average heart rate for 10 participants before and after exercise?

Calculate the difference between a person’s heart rate before and after exercise.

Links to English

Can you write a letter to a friend telling them about your findings?

More Science for Kids

Find out how to  make your own stethoscope with a funnel, tape and cardboard tube.

Make a pumping model of a heart , or try one of our sports science investigations.

Suitable for:

Key Stage 1 Science: Animals, including Humans

Describe the importance for humans of exercise, eating the right amounts of different types of food, and hygiene.

Key Stage 2 Science: Animals, including Humans

Recognise the impact of diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle on the way their bodies function

Last Updated on September 17, 2024 by Emma Vanstone

Safety Notice

Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

Reader Interactions

March 05, 2018 at 8:06 am

hi my name is tyrone

January 22, 2019 at 2:33 pm

helpful thanks!

February 23, 2019 at 7:51 am

This was extremely helpful for a school task, thx

April 02, 2019 at 3:37 pm

It is for my science fair

September 29, 2019 at 10:29 am

Helps a lot for science project.

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Pulse Rate-Lab Report

BIOLOGY INVESTIGATION

Research Question : What is the effect of physical exercise on Pulse Rate of the human heart?

Hypothesis : As the level of physical exercise increases, the pulse rate will also increase. Females will have a higher pulse rate difference compared to that of males, of the same age group.

Independent Variable: Climbing Stairs, Using the treadmill Dependent Variable: Heart Beat Rate Control Variables:   The following factors were controlled, or kept the same in this test: -Room temperature: In the gym: 22 0 C ±0.5, On stairs: 25 0 C ±0.5; measured using Thermometer -Time over which subject was under experiment: 2 minutes ±0.5 -Time of the day: Period 3, 10.45-11.45am -Time over which subject was allowed to rest before pulse was measured: 20 seconds ±0.05, this was measured using a stopwatch -Same equipment used to measure pulse rate in order to have standardized results, that is, pulse rate monitor and stop watch, to the accuracy of ±00.5 -Same method used to measure pulse rate -Time over which pulse rate was measured, after exercising: 1 minute ±0.05 -Speed on treadmill: Level 6, was kept constant throughout -Same person for tests -Time for person to rest between trials: 2 minutes ±0.05

Materials Needed:

-Thermometer -Stopwatch -Pulse Rate monitor -Recording Sheet -Stairs -Treadmill

Procedure for Controlling Variables:

-The time for which subject was allowed to rest before pulse was measured: constantly 20 seconds ±00.5, this was measured using a stopwatch - A thermometer was used to ensure the accuracy of the room temperature: the gym: 22 0 C ±0.5, On stairs: 25 0 C ±0.5 - Time over which subject was under experiment: 2 minutes ±0.5, measured using stopwatch -Time of the day: Period 3, 10.45-11.45am -Same equipment used to measure pulse rate in order to have standardized results, that is, pulse rate monitor and stop watch, to the accuracy of ±00.5 -Same method used to measure pulse rate -Time over which pulse rate was measured, after exercising: 1 minute ±0.05, using stopwatch -Speed on treadmill: Level 6, was kept constant throughout -We used the same subject for both sets of exercise so as to make sure individual differences like stamina/fitness level, gender, weight, different diets were kept constant throughout

Procedure of Data Collection:

• To start with, initial pulse rate was measured so that the rise/fall can be seen clearly. This was done for 1 minutes ±0.05 using a stopwatch
• The exercising was then carried out: In each trial, the subject was supposed to climb down and up flights of stairs for a total of 2 minutes ±0.05
• After exercise, the patient was to stand still for 20 seconds ±0.05, after which the pulse rate was measured
• This was then recorded –accuracy was attempted to be maintained

This is a preview of the whole essay

• Pulse rate was then allowed to reach initial rates so as to continue with the next set of exercise/conduct more trials
• The second set of physical exercise was then carried out: Subjects were asked to walk on the treadmill for two minutes, at level 6, to keep going, burning as many calories as they could, trying to keep up with the pace-The main objective was to see the pulse rate at the end of 2 minutes ±0.05, thus seeing the effect of exercise on pulse rate
• Both sets of individuals, males are females were used in both sets of exercise to see the difference in heart pulse
• Same individual was used for the two sets to ensure reliable results.
• All experimental trials must be undertaken on the same day since the individual’s health may be different tomorrow, compared to that of today.

Data Collection:

Table showing the initial and final pulse rate for Individual 1 for stair climbing-Female

Table showing the initial and final pulse rate for Individual 2 for stair climbing-Male

Table showing the initial and final pulse rate for Individual 1 for treadmill-Male

Table showing the initial and final pulse rate for Individual 1 for treadmill-Female

Processed Data:

Calculations: Average = value of trial 1+2+3                                                     3

Table showing average pulse rates for Individual 1, Female and Individual 2, Male

Background Information:

Heart rate: The number of heart beats per unit time, usually per minute. The heart rate is based on the number of contractions of the  (the lower chambers of the heart). The heart rate may be too fast ( ) or too slow ( ). The  is bulge of an  from the wave of  coursing through the blood  as a result of the heartbeat.

[ Adapted from ]

As seen from the graph above, my hypothesis was correct; Exercise affects Pulse Rate by showing a great increase. It can also be seen that the Pulse Rates for Individual 2, Males was generally lower than that of Individual 1, Females. I believe this is because Males have a much higher fitness level than that of Females and because they’re constantly on the move, they might not be as affected by a two-minute walk in comparison to Females. This could be wrong, because I also think that since Males have more muscle, they would have to work harder to release energy for the physical movement. More oxygen will be needed for their muscles, and this would increase their heartbeat. In order to confirm my hypothesis, I thus carried out calculations to find out which individual had a higher % change in pulse. The average change in Pulse Rate for both Exercises for Females was 20.17% while for Males was 32.50%. This showed me that there was a greater average change in pulse rate among Males, which confirmed my hypothesis. It is true that Females also do have muscle which needs to be broken down in order to release energy, however, in comparison to Males, it’s much more smaller. This means Females would not require as much energy during Exercise. However, it was also observed that the Initial Resting Rate for Females was higher than that of Males.

Thus, the heart rate rises while exercising because the cell respiration cells that are in our body tend to need more oxygen, which is normally found in he haemoglobin of Red Blood Cells. The heart and the lungs alongside also work harder to obtain oxygen so as to maintain respiration rate. During exercise, cell respiration thus increases and this is why a change of about 20.17%-32.50% in pulse rate was seen. The heart’s reaction to exercise is pumping more blood, so as to deliver enough oxygen to the muscles.

Evaluation:

I think that my investigation worked really well, my graphs show an increase in the pulse rate after exercise. However, there are some problems which can be resolved if this experiment was repeated.

The use of pulse rate monitor equipment did work well, but the use of a stethoscope can allow direct and accurate measurements of pulse rates.  

We also had enough time to allow the individual to get their pulse back to normal. However, as seen, the pulse rate did not lower as much as it should have. For example, during Trial 3, for Males, the initial pulse rate was 108, while in Trial 1 it was about 72. This clearly shows that the time given, which was 2 minutes, was not enough, however due to our time constraint we did not allocate more time. If ever repeated, more time should be provided to subject to allow enough rest so as to be able to reach actual initial pulse rate.

Another issue we faced was that the pace of an individual also affects pulse.  People may have started off at a quick pace but slower when they begin to get tired, or in the case of stairs, more energy is needed to climb up the stairs.

Also, I did not measure the person’s heart rate in the same position as they were before and after exercising. If a person was standing instead of sitting, the pulse rate would obviously be higher since muscle energy is still being used to help keep the person upright. For further improvements, the final pulse rate should be taken while the person is in the same position as the initial readings.

Teacher Reviews

Here's what a teacher thought of this essay.

Ross Robertson

While this investigation into the effect of exercise on heart rate had a number of positive aspects to it, it also suffered from some very basic weaknesses that undermine the validity of the data collected. It is worth studying these areas since they are fairly common among students who are coming to experimental science for the first time. [1] Science investigations are about testing a hypothesis. A hypothesis is an idea resulting from observations, together with researched scientific knowledge from previous work. In this case, the hypothesis was not supported by observation or knowledge. [2] The independent variable must have a range of values in order for a trend to be observed. Here, the writer tests only two I.V. values. [3] In order for data to be considered valid (useful), it must be reliable, and reliability comes from large sample sizes, ie. repeating readings . In this case, the writer has only one male and one female subject. [4] The results are discussed using too much 'hearsay' and not enough human physiology knowledge. The physiology of circulation is well documented and any pulse rate investigation should draw on the vast reservoir of knowledge online. The structure of the report is adequate, although it lacked a risk assessment, but the key weaknesses above would prevent this gaining high grades at GCSE

Document Details

• Word Count 1539
• Page Count 6
• Level AS and A Level
• Subject Science

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Exploring the Science of Heart Rate: A Fun Summer Activity for Kids

Summer is here, and the great outdoors beckon. Your kids are likely spending their days basking in the sun, playing games, and embracing the spirit of summer freedom. As they jump and run around, you can seize this opportunity not only for them to enjoy the sunshine but also to learn about their own bodies, specifically, their heart rate.

The Heart and Its Marvels

Our BioBox kits include a fascinating exploration of the heart, with one of the experiments centered around heart rate. While we often use a stethoscope for these experiments, there’s another engaging way to teach your kids about their heart rate – monitoring their pulse at the wrist. It’s simple, educational, and can be a lot of fun.

Conducting the Experiment

Here’s a detailed breakdown of how you can conduct this experiment with your kids:

Step 1: Discovering Resting Heart Rate

• Start by having your children sit or lie down comfortably, ensuring they are at rest.
• Encourage them to place their index and middle fingers on the inside of their wrist to locate their pulse.
• For 30 seconds, have them count the number of heartbeats they feel. To determine their resting heart rate, simply double this number to calculate the beats per minute.

Step 2: Active Heart Rate Exploration

• Now, let’s get active! Instruct your kids to perform jumping jacks for a full minute.
• Immediately after they finish the jumping jacks, ask them to monitor their pulse for their active heart rate. Follow the same procedure as in Step 1 to measure it.

Step 3: Observing the Recovery

• Repeat Step 2, but this time, instead of monitoring their pulse immediately after the jumping jacks, wait for one minute, three minutes, and five minutes before measuring their heart rate again.
• Take note of how the heart rates change over time, and discuss these observations. You can even involve yourself as another test subject to make it a family learning experience.

Drawing Valuable Conclusions

To help your children extract meaningful insights from this experiment, encourage them to ponder these questions:

• How much did their heart rate increase during the jumping jacks activity?
• How long did it take for their heart to return to its resting rate after physical activity?
• Did the heart rate patterns differ among the subjects, or were they similar?

Stimulate their curiosity by suggesting further questions and encouraging them to think critically about the human body’s marvelous workings.

Unveiling the Science Behind It

With this straightforward yet captivating exercise, you can introduce your children to the concept of heart rate responsiveness to physical activity. When muscles require more oxygen during exercise, the heart pumps blood at a faster rate to meet this demand. Conversely, when the body is at rest, the need for excessive oxygen diminishes, and the heart rate naturally slows down. It’s a fundamental lesson, but a vital one that forms the basis for understanding human physiology.

Continuation of the Learning Journey

Remember that simple lessons tend to stick when they’re repeated. Additionally, hands-on experiments leave a lasting impression as they engage both the hands and the brain. If you’re looking for more hands-on experiments that combine learning and fun, you can explore our shop page at bioboxlabs.com . Our monthly subscription offers a variety of exciting experiments that will keep your children captivated and eager to explore the wonders of science.

In conclusion, this summer, take advantage of the sunny days to blend playtime with education. By helping your kids explore their own heart rates, you’re not just making learning enjoyable but also nurturing a lifelong curiosity about the incredible human body. Enjoy the sunshine and the scientific discoveries that come with it!

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Effects of Interactive Music Tempo with Heart Rate Feedback on Physio-Psychological Responses of Basketball Players

Chung-chiang chen.

1 Office of Physical Education, National Yang-Ming Chiao-Tung University, Hsinchu City 300093, Taiwan; wt.moc.oohay@fdioreh

2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, National Yang-Ming Chiao-Tung University, Hsinchu 300093, Taiwan; [email protected] (Y.C.); [email protected] (L.-C.T.)

Li-Chuan Tang

Wei-hua chieng, associated data.

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

This paper introduces an interactive music tempo control with closed-loop heart rate feedback to yield a sportsperson with better physio-psychological states. A total of 23 participants (13 men, 10 women; 16–32 years, mean = 20.04 years) who are professionals or school team members further guide a sportsperson to amend their physical tempo to harmonize their psychological and physical states. The self-tuning mechanism between the surroundings and the human can be amplified using interactive music tempo control. The experiments showed that listening to interactive music had a significant effect on the heart rate and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) of the basketball player compared to those listening to asynchronous music or no music during exercise ( p < 0.01). Synchronized interactive music allows athletes to increase their heart rate and decrease RPE during exercise and does not require a multitude of preplanned playlists. All self-selected songs can be converted into sports-oriented music using algorithms. The algorithms of synchronous and asynchronous modes in this study can be adjusted and applied to other sports fields or recovery after exercise. In the future, other musical parameters should be adjusted in real-time based on physiological signals, such as tonality, beats, chords, and orchestration.

1. Introduction

Recently, the Olympic opening ceremonies, medal award ceremonies, and different competition events (i.e., gymnastics, figure skating) have often shown the prominent position of music in sports events, and music and sports have been increasingly associated [ 1 ]. Music has become an integral part of sporting events [ 2 ]. With the increase in recreational and individualized exercise programs, the incorporation of music into training has become more common. Several studies have focused on the potential benefits of music in sports. Many elite athletes listen to music during physical training sessions, pre-matches, and warm-ups because they believe that music can improve their mood, inspire them, and help them achieve their best performance level [ 3 ].

The influence of music on both psychology and exercise has been extensively studied. Three major factors (pitch, timbre, and rhythm of songs) affect the performance of various sports players [ 4 , 5 ]. Researchers usually use psychological scales, such as the rated perceived exertion (RPE) scale, to assess the fatigue of athletes and explore how their physiological and psychological responses and exercise performances are influenced by different musical elements [ 6 ]. The preference of music may mediate its motivational potential to a large extent, which shows that the choice of music has primary significance in determining the benefits that music may bring [ 4 , 7 ]. Furthermore, the influence of music is related to its internal elements, such as rhythm and musicality, and external factors arising from connections outside of culture and music [ 8 , 9 ]. In the application of music to sports, the tempo is considered the most important determinant of the response to music [ 10 , 11 ] and preferences for different tempos are influenced by the listener’s physiological arousal and the context in which the music is heard [ 12 ]. Notably, arousal intensity is highly positively correlated with heart rate response [ 13 ]. Experiments confirm that people’s preferred music tempo is positively correlated with their heart rate [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. In this experiment, the researchers asked the participants to find their favorite tempo through self-regulation of a 440-Hz pure tone. As expected, the preferred tempo was close to the heart rate. To extend this to music stimulation, the relationship between the heart rate and music tempo preference was analyzed. The participants used a computer to control the tempo of the music. The results confirmed a significant positive correlation between preferred tempo and heart rate [ 14 ]. This suggests that fast tempo music may be preferred during physical activity, although some studies have suggested that slower tempos may increase physiological efficiency and thus prolong exercise performance [ 17 , 18 ].

Certain early experiments have revealed that music has a significant effect on the heart rate in humans [ 19 ], while the heart rate response is positively correlated with arousal level [ 13 ]. Listening to music before and during exercise can increase motivation and effort, thereby improving performance [ 20 , 21 ]. It can also improve endurance [ 20 , 22 ], sprinting [ 23 , 24 ], and resistance modes of exercise [ 21 , 25 ]. Basketball players have increased arousal levels in front of the audience and music groups and, thus, achieve better athletic performance [ 26 , 27 , 28 ]. Therefore, designated music responses to certain exercises can motivate athletes’ intentions and enhance their performance. For instance, music has been proven to effectively reduce fatigue and exertion through separation and distraction during exercise [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Performance improvement may be mediated by improved mood, exercise enjoyment, and increased feelings of power [ 4 , 23 , 34 , 35 ]. The increase in arousal and neural activity while listening to music has been shown to be accompanied by an improvement in exercise performance [ 34 , 36 , 37 ]. In addition to exercise, listening to music can help heart rate recovery after exercise [ 38 ]. In summary, the influence of music on exercise performance is a multifaceted topic involving various exercise modalities and may provide benefits for a wide range of athletic populations. However, some studies have shown that listening to music has little benefit to exercise performance, which is slightly different from the results of previous studies [ 39 , 40 , 41 ]. The attempts to identify the obvious factors and contexts in which music affects the physiology, psychology, and performance of sports and physical activities are still ongoing. In athletes, listening to music to reduce RPE is effective in low- and moderate-intensity exercise but evidently not in high-intensity exercise [ 41 ]. Music tempo may be a useful regulatory tool to prompt free-living individuals to reach an appropriate stride rate to achieve a walking pace of at least moderate intensity [ 42 ]. Some music is “activating” in the sense that it increases the speed, and some music is “relaxing” in the sense that it decreases the speed compared to the spontaneous walking speed in response to metronome stimuli. The participants were consistent in their observation of qualitative differences between relaxing and activating musical stimuli [ 43 ]. Instead of intensity-exercise and beat-walking interactions, this study focuses on the feedback music influences of exercise with both physiological and psychological factors, which are both HR and RPE.

The feedback or background music effects were extensively examined in this study as the physiological and psychological effects of asynchronous or synchronous music rather than the functional effects [ 6 ]. Synchronization of music tempo and exercise may improve the efficiency and overall performance of the exercise [ 44 , 45 , 46 ]. Such effects, physiological and psychological responses to synchronous music, have been demonstrated in bench stepping [ 47 ], cycle ergometry [ 48 ], callisthenic-type exercises [ 49 ], 400-m running [ 45 ], and multi-activity circuit tasks [ 50 ]. The sports brand Nike has also collaborated with the orchestra LCD Soundsystem under the American independent record company, Dairy Farmers of America Inc. (DFA). They collaborated to release the Original Run series music tailored for runners on iTunes in 2006, as a composition “45:33”, which is a song with the tempo based on the heart rate of the full cycle of jogging: from warm-up, stable peaks to slowly settling music [ 51 ]. Synchronous music tempo is discernably an important factor; therefore, this study focuses on how asynchronous or synchronous music tempo influences the physiological and psychological responses of athletes during exercise tasks.

The importance of body rhythm is well known in basketball performance [ 52 ], and listening to synchronized music while performing an exercise task appears to be helpful in heart rate response, physiological arousal, and RPE. To date, no study has focused on all musical elements being the same as control variables (all participants listened to the same song during the exercise task) and used heart rate feedback to control the tempo of the playing song as the independent variable to generate interactive music. The tempo algorithm is divided into synchronous and asynchronous based on the heart rate. This study compared the physical and psychological responses of basketball players with synchronous, asynchronous, or no music during sprints and technical tasks. The continuous real-time heart rate and RPE scale of the players were compared.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. study design, setting, sample size, 2.1.1. participants.

In total, there were 23 participants (13 men, 10 women; 16–32 years, mean = 20.04 years) in this study, including P. LEAGUE+ (PLG) ( n = 1); Women’s Super-Basketball League (WSBL) ( n = 5); National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) men’s basketball team, which includes sports gifted ( n = 3) and general students ( n = 4); High School Basketball League (HBL), which includes U17~U18 men’s team ( n = 5) and U16 women’s team ( n = 5). The following participant information was collected: gender, age, team, mass, height, BMI (body mass index, obtained by dividing the weight in kg of the participant by the square of the height expressed in meters), HR rest (participants’ heart rate measured in a resting state), and HR max (theoretical maximum heart rate) [ 53 ]. All participants were randomly divided into two groups. The demographics from this study are shown in Table 1 . The method, experiment design, and safety of participants were strictly approved by the Research Ethics Committee for Human Subject Protection, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, before performing the experiments. The data collections were administrated by the author Chung-Chiang Chen, who is a professional basketball coach. In addition to this study, the data collections are also being used for basketball training courses and game tactical planning reference in the fourth quarter of 2021. All data collections were for research and teaching purposes only and absolutely no other use. The inclusion criteria for participants were the prospective players participating in the fourth quarter basketball tournament in Taiwan in 2021, invited by coach Chung-Chiang Chen. All participants regularly performed physical activity five times a week, and a good proportion of the participants were involved in heavy weight training. Participants provided written informed consent for the publication of this study. This experiment did not involve asking about health history, only whether participants were taking performance-enhancing, heart-rate-affecting illegal drugs that are banned from competition.

Demographics of participants.

2.1.2. Experimental Design

In this study, the Quasi-Experimental Design method is employed, which is a type of experiment using all intact subjects to be given interactive music. The design is a quasi-experimental study with the type of “Counterbalanced Design” [ 54 ] (See Figure 1 ). The task has two conditions: no music (NM) and interactive music (IM). The physiological and psychological responses of participants performing the same task in the two conditions were compared using heart rate measurements and the RPE scale.

Counterbalanced Design.

2.1.3. Procedure

The detailed experimental procedure was conducted after explaining it to all the participants and receiving their consent. Smartwatches were worn by the participants, and their resting heart rates were measured before starting tasks. The task has two conditions, including no music (NM) and interactive music (IM). The experiments were randomly divided into two groups. For group 1, the task was first performed under IM conditions. After a 1.5-h rest, participants performed the task with the NM condition. For group 2, the task was to be performed under NM conditions first. After a 1.5-h rest, participants performed the task in the IM condition. Among them, the synchronous interactive music (SIM) was played when performing the shuttle runs to the fifth goal of the shooting task, and the asynchronous interactive music (AIM) was played from the fifth goal to the tenth goal in the shooting task. The heart rate was received via Bluetooth, the application records the raw data, and the time tags were observed and recorded by the researcher. The data collections were classified according to the time tags: sprint for 20 s, sprint for 40 s, sprint for 60 s, shoot 5 goals after the sprint, and shoot 10 goals after the sprint (See Table 2 ). As shown in the video in the Supplementary Materials Video S1 , due to site constraints, this experiment only allowed two participants to perform the experiment at a time, and the participants spent approximately 5 min completing the two tasks. The time spent for 12 experiments was exactly 1 h. After the researchers completed the first round of experiments in each group, they confirmed that all participants’ questionnaires were filled out correctly. This process took 30 min before the second round of experiments began. This time spent constitutes the participant’s rest time.

2.1.4. Exercise Tasks

Each participant performed a shuttle run for a fixed time and then continued the two tasks with a fixed number of basketball shots. The participants performed shuttle runs on the narrow side of the basketball court (15 m) within 60 s, then shot the basketball from the free-throw line to score 10 goals (See Figure 2 ). During the shuttle run task, participants ran with their maximum power to achieve more laps within the time limit. During the free throw shooting task, players tried to complete 10 scored shoots in the shortest time possible.

Tasks ( a ) Shuttle runs in 60 s (time-limited) and ( b ) Shoot 10 goals from the free-throw line (scores to achieve).

2.1.5. Sample Size

Based on the power analysis, this experiment had at least 20 participants in order to achieve the minimum of 80% power to reject the null hypothesis. The study used the Two-Way ANOVA: Repeated measures, within-between interactive design. The models are divided into 3 different sets, including 2 conditions × 1 factor (number of measurements = 2), 2 conditions × 2 factor (number of measurements = 4), and 2 conditions × 5 factor (number of measurements = 10). The maximum number of samples was required for the set of 2 conditions × 1 factor (number of measurements = 2). Given the design of the study, a power analysis conducted using G * Power 3.1.96 [ 55 ] requires simultaneously that the medium-to-large effect size f is lower than 0.35, α is lower than 0.05, and a power (1 − β) is higher than 0.80 when the number of groups is 2, the number of measurements is 2, and the sample size is 20.

2.1.6. Devices and Data Collection Protocol

The Amazfit GTS 2 mini was used to measure the heart rate of participants during exercise through a smartwatch worn on the wrist. Heart rate measurements from wearables are derived from photoplethysmography (PPG), an optical method for measuring changes in blood volume under the skin. Although the accuracy of wearable optical heart rate measurers using PPG of the previous version has been questioned [ 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 ], the most updated literature from Brinnae Bent et al. concluded that different recent wearables are all reasonably accurate at resting and prolonged elevated heart rate [ 63 ]. Specifically, the Xiaomi device (with the same hardware as the Amazfit) used in this study performed well in accuracy during physical activity and was comparable to the experimental-grade device. During physical activity, the consumer-grade device Xiaomi had a mean absolute error (MAE) of 13.8 bpm, the research-grade device Biovotion had an MAE of 19.8 bpm, and the Empatica E4 had an MAE of 12.8 bpm [ 63 ].

In this study, the data collection from the NM, SIM, and AIM tests are the heart rates taken from the participants when they are either resting or during the prolonged elevated exercising stage. The data collected has been previewed to justify the correctness of the apparatus setting. The heart rate would be transmitted from every Amazfit GTS 2 mini via Bluetooth to the smartphone held by the data/booker or the participants. This study used Buds Air 2 Bluetooth headsets on smartphones to play music by the Nupiano app. Among them, the Bluetooth headset has the active noise reduction function enabled, and all participants were listening to the same music volume.

Whenever the participant’s heart rate changes, the wearable transmits it to the phone in real-time via Bluetooth. Amazfit software sends specific commands to a specific UUID to force it to measure the heart rate continuously, which receives the real-time heart rate by listening BluetoothGatt. The source code link is attached to the Supplementary Material File S1 and File S2 , including the continuous measurement command and the UUID protocol.

2.1.7. Data Collection

The time tags for every single trip of the participants in the shuttle run task and the time tags for each goal in the shooting task were recorded, and each raw data were labelled with device system time. The exercise performance of all participants was recorded, and physical and psychological responses at specific time points were stored.

Heart Rate Response

Studies have shown that arousal intensity is highly positively correlated with heart rate response [ 13 ]. In this study, both graphical observations and statistical analysis were used to assess heart rate responses. This study used time-stamped continuous heart rate raw data to create a heart rate response graphic and used the heart rate (HR) and average heart rate (aHR) data to estimate increases or decreases in arousal intensity. The heart rate data was classified according to the time tags and recorded as HR 20 , HR 40 , HR 60 , HR 5th , and HR 10th . Average heart rate data within the time tags interval were classified according to the time tags and recorded as aHR 20 , aHR 40 , aHR 60 , aHR 5th , and aHR 10th .

Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE)

When the RPE scale was first proposed, it was a 15-point category ratio scale [ 64 ], ranging from 6 (very, very relaxing [rest]) to 20 (maximum exercise). It is used to measure the amount of self-perceived exercise during the task. The higher the degree of fatigue perceived in the task, the higher the RPE score. The RPE scale has proven to be closely related to physiological measurements (including heart rate). Since the scale of 6 to 20 points is not intuitive for the subjects, a new version of the scale of 0 to 10 points Borg CR10 Scale has been proposed, also known as Modified RPE [ 65 , 66 ]. This study uses the Borg CR10 scale as the questionnaire and analysis statistics. The questionnaire for this study was used to query the participants about the RPE in the first third, middle third, and final third of the shuttle run task, as well as the RPE of five goals in the shooting task after the shuttle run, and also the RPE from the fifth goal to the tenth goal, recorded as RPE 20 , PRE 40 , RPE 60 , RPE 5th , and RPE 10th .

Exercise Performance

The exercise task was divided into a shuttle run task and a shooting task. The performance of the shuttle run task was evaluated on the total number of trips (the more, the better), and the performance of the shooting task was evaluated by the goal time (a shorter time is better). The data collection was classified according to the time tags and recorded as Trips, Time 5th , and Time 10th .

2.2. Intervention

2.2.1. correlated music tempo with heart rate in bpm.

This study designed a set of interactive music tempo control with a closed-loop heart rate feedback mechanism, as shown in Figure 3 .

Correlated music tempo with heart rate (HR) in BPM.

The Heart Rate Planner designed here in this experiment has two models: synchronous mode and asynchronous mode (See Figure 4 ). The detailed description is as follows:

Two modes effects in the app, ( a ) Synchronous mode and ( b ) Asynchronous mode.

For synchronous mode, the following equation is applied to update the music tempo:

In the experiment of this study, α = 2.1, the chosen value, in Equation (1) makes the maximum music BPM equal to 80% HR max [ 53 ]. When the participant’s heart rate exceeds 80% of the maximum heart rate, it will become music BPM less than the heart rate. It is expected that this parameter design can relieve fatigue and increase sustained motivation during high-intensity exercise.

For asynchronous mode, the following equation is applied to update the music tempo:

The parameter in Equation (2), β = 1.5, is set up for the experiment. The original BPM of the music in this experiment is 76. Usually, the updated music BPM will be smaller than the measured heart rate BPM . However, when the measured heart rate is equal to the resting heart rate, which is measured when the participant is calm before the test, the updated music BPM will reach the maximum value, 1.5 times larger than the original music BPM . This asynchronous model can maintain a certain range through the music tempo no matter whether the measured heart rate is too low or too high.

2.2.2. Nutext and Nupiano Player

Nupiano is a pure piano instrumental music player in the Nutext format. The Nutext format was designed based on numbered musical notation and follows the rules of numerical control codes. Nutext is similar to G-code. Its actions and events progress with time sequence, which is suitable for players that need to change the music tempo instantly [ 67 ]. An example of the Nutext format is shown in Figure 5 , where the digits after Q are the tempo of this song in BPM. For the user, the tempo of the music can be changed only by changing the Q value in the program. Nupiano can easily change the playing tempo, and compared to audio-based players, it will not cause sound quality distortion due to the changing tempo. The source code link is attached in the Supplementary Material File S3 , which contains synchronous mode and asynchronous mode algorithms.

The Nutext format example.

2.2.3. Music Selection

A study by Marc Leman et al. found that listeners and players share, to a certain degree, a sensitivity for musical expression and its associated corporeal intentionality [ 68 ]. Participants listening to the same song may perceive the same expressions and intentions. In this study, the music preferences of the participants were not considered, but the popular Chinese songs in the key of B flat major, which have become popular in recent years, were directly selected as control variables. “Asuka and Cicada” is the most popular Chinese song on the TikTok platform in 2020, and it also ranked No.1 in Taiwan’s PARTYWORLD list of request songs in 2020. The song is 76bpm of rhythm with B flat major. Pauer’s key characteristics for the B flat major are that it is “a favorite key of our classical composers, has an open, frank, clear, and bright character, which also admits the expression of quiet contemplation” [ 69 ].

2.3. Comparison

The participants did not wear headphones to perform exercise tasks, and no music was played on the experimental site.

2.4. Statistical Analysis

Analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 21.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). The Shapiro–Wilk test was used to evaluate the normality of the data distribution. Successively, an analysis of variance with two-way repeated measures (RM-ANOVA) was conducted to determine whether significant differences existed between the two different conditions. This was considered the factor of the analysis (named Condition). A comparison of the heart rate (HR), average heart rate (aHR), RPE, Trips, and Goal-Time of basketball players listening to interactive music (including synchronous mode and asynchronous mode) and not listening to music at different time points when performing exercise tasks was conducted. The data collections were classified according to the time tags: sprint for 20 s, sprint for 40 s, sprint for 60 s, shoot 5 goals after the sprint, and shoot 10 goals after the sprint. Three sets of statistical models were used in this study, as shown in Table 3 , including a series of 2 (Condition: NM, IM) × 5 (Time Tags) × 2 (Gender) mixed-model repeated-measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) conducted on HR, aHR, and RPE for each exercise, a series of 2 (Condition: NM, IM) × 1 (Trips) × 2 (Gender) mixed-model repeated-measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) conducted on Trips for the shuttle run task, and a series of 2 (Condition: NM, IM) × 2 (Time Tags) × 2 (Gender) mixed-model repeated-measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) conducted on Goal-Time for the shooting task. All the variables were transferred into the Within-Subjects Variables: (Condition, HR), (Condition, aHR), (Condition, Trips), (Condition, Goal-Time). Huynh-Feldt correction applied to all RM-ANOVAs if they violated the spherical assumption. The RM-ANOVA report follows the spherical flow chart of previous rules of thumb for statistical research in psychology [ 70 , 71 ], as shown in Figure 6 .

RM-ANOVA spherical flowchart.

Affected factors and statistical models.

Descriptive data for HR, aHR, RPE, Trips, and Goal-Time for each condition and at each measurement point are presented in Table 4 .

Descriptive statistics for HR, aHR, RPE, Trips, and Goal-Time during tasks with IM and NM conditions.

While interpreting the experimental results with the observation of red and black lines in the heart rate response graphs, it was found for some participants that the heart rate response with the IM condition (red line) and the NM condition (black line) could be clearly observed to be different (see Figure 7 ). A total of 10 participants’ (43.48%) heart rate response graphs were clearly observed to differ between the IM condition (red line) and the NM condition (black line).

Heart Rate Response during the tasks with IM and NM conditions ( a ) could be clearly observed ( b ) could not be clearly observed.

3.1. Interaction Effects: Condition × HR, Condition × HR × Gender

There was a very significant difference in HR as a function of the interaction of Condition × HR with p = 0.004 and η 2 = 0.56. There was no significant difference in HR as a function of the interaction of Condition × HR × Gender with p = 0.329 and η 2 = 0.05. The results obtained for each individual condition are depicted in Figure 8 a. Regardless of gender, basketball players listening to interactive music while performing exercise tasks always had significant effects on HR.

( a ) The heart rate response, ( b ) the average heart rates (aHR) response and ( c ) the RPE response during the tasks with IM (red) and NM (black). ( d ) The shuttle run task performance and ( e ) the shooting task performance. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01.

3.2. Interaction Effects: Condition × aHR, Condition × aHR × Gender

There was a very significant difference in aHR as a function of the interaction of Condition × aHR with p = 0.003 and η 2 = 0.58. There was an insignificant difference in ΔHR as a function of the interaction of Condition × ΔHR × Gender with p = 0.907 and η 2 = 0.01. The results obtained for each individual condition are depicted in Figure 8 b. Regardless of gender, basketball players listening to interactive music while performing exercise tasks always had significant effects on aHR.

3.3. Interaction Effects: Condition × RPE, Condition × RPE × Gender

There was a significant difference in RPE as a function of the interaction of Condition × RPE with p = 0.014 and η 2 = 0.48. There was no significant difference in RPE as a function of the interaction of Condition × RPE × Gender with p = 0.741 and η 2 = 0.02. The results obtained for each individual condition are depicted in Figure 8 c. Regardless of gender, basketball players listening to interactive music while performing exercise tasks always had significant effects on RPE.

Among the 23 participants, 14 participants (60.87%) had a RPE 5th score with the SIM condition (RPE 20 : 4.70 ± 2.58, RPE 40 : 5.70 ± 2.16, RPE 60 : 6.87 ± 2.01, RPE 5th : 4.26 ± 2.09) lower than the NM condition (RPE 20 : 5.09 ± 2.59, RPE 40 : 6.13 ± 1.79, RPE 60 : 7.70 ± 1.58, RPE 5th : 5.43 ± 1.81), and 19 participants (82.61%) had a RPE 10th score with the AIM condition (RPE 10th : 4.22 ± 2.35) higher than the NM condition (RPE 10th : 3.96 ± 1.99). Listening to synchronous music tempo while performing exercise tasks was helpful in reducing RPE while listening to asynchronous music tempo hardly compared to not listening to any music.

3.4. Interaction Effects: Condition × Trips, Condition × Trips × Gender

There was not a significant difference in performance as a function of the interaction of Condition × Trips with p = 0.829 and η 2 = 0.00. Neither was there a significant difference in Trips as a function of the interaction of Condition × Trips × Gender with p = 0.109 and η 2 = 0.12. The results obtained for each individual condition are depicted in Figure 8 d. Regardless of gender, basketball players listening to interactive music while performing exercise tasks had no significant effect on sprint exercise performance.

3.5. Interaction Effects: Condition × Goal-Time, Condition × Goal-Time × Gender

There was no significant difference in performance as a function of the interaction of Condition × Goal-Time with p = 0.332; η 2 = 0.05. There was also no significant difference in Goal-Time as a function of the interaction of Condition × Goal-Time × Gender with p = 0.479 and η 2 = 0.02. The results obtained for each individual condition are depicted in Figure 8 e. Regardless of gender, basketball players who listened to interactive music while performing exercise tasks experienced no significant effect on shooting exercise performance.

The experimental results also indicated that listening to synchronous interactive music to perform exercise tasks has a very significant impact on increasing the heart rate response ( p < 0.01), but with the increase in exercise intensity and RPE, the effect seems to be less obvious, as shown in Figure 8 . Regardless of the sprinting or shooting tasks, the RPE scale of athletes listening to synchronous interactive music was lower than that of no music and asynchronous interactive music. The conclusion was statistically significant ( p < 0.05). Listening to synchronous interactive music or asynchronous interactive music did not appear to have a significant effect on athletic performance when athletes performed exercise tasks.

4. Discussion

Conclusions can be drawn from the analysis in the previous sections. The basketball player would have an increased heart rate response resulting in an increase in physiological arousal intensity and a decrease in RPE when listening to synchronized interactive music during sprinting and shooting. However, it was not much gain in physiological efficiency compared to the exercises performance [ 17 , 18 ] when listening to slow tempo asynchronous interactive music. It seems that listening to slow-tempo asynchronous interactive music to perform exercise tasks did not seem to help heart rate response and RPE. Listening to synchronous interactive music versus slow tempo asynchronous interactive music to perform exercise tasks made no difference in sprint or shooting performance. Basketball is a physical rhythm-focused sport, and during the exercise, the athlete’s heart rate reaches 80% of the theoretical maximum heart rate, and the body rhythm is an important factor in shooting [ 52 ]. Based on these theories, if the basketball player listens to music in sync with their own body rhythm while exercising, their heart rate response will tune to achieve the physiological arousal levels and, thus, RPE is reduced. Therefore, the results of this study may explain why the PRE of basketball players listening to slow tempo asynchronous interactive music for exercise tasks is higher than that of no music and synchronous interactive music. As listening to slow tempo asynchronous interactive music does not help with physiological arousal intensity, it takes more effort for a basketball player to achieve the level of arousal in the shooting state.

In contrast to the current study, athletes listening to fast-tempo music (>120 BPM) during sprints had a significant effect on heart rate, but not sprint performance, as in previous studies [ 23 , 24 ]. Notably, the results of this study appear to have a more significant effect on heart rate increases in the first 20 s of sprint initiation, with listening to synchronized interactive music significantly reducing RPE regardless of the exercise task. Previous research indicated that listening to the music of self-choice while exercising resulted in lower RPE in women, but it did not seem to help men [ 24 ]. This is in contrast to the current study, where there was no significant difference in RPE between the genders of the participants. All participants listening to synchronized music while performing exercise tasks had lower RPE; the result is also statistically significant ( p < 0.05). Previous studies had shown that listening to fast-tempo music while basketball players warmed up could significantly increase heart rate and improve the athlete’s level of arousal, thereby improving athletic performance [ 28 ]. In contrast to the current study, listening to synchronized music during exercise tasks had a significant effect on increased heart rate responses, but appeared to have no effect on exercise performance.

Physical activation is very important for feeling tired because the signals transmitted from the body to the brain inform the brain of the ongoing efforts, thereby regulating physical activity. These signals capture conscious attention and change behavioral responses relating to exercise adherence [ 33 ]. However, music can be considered a useful tool for regulating the intensity of physiological arousal and subjective experience to increase the level of physical activity and sports participation [ 4 , 23 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Music is strategically chosen to elicit physical and psychological responses for better performance, experience, and persistence during exercise, as well as to regulate emotions and distract attention from discomfort [ 4 , 7 ]. The biggest difference between this research and the previous study is that this study can adjust the music parameters according to the heart rate in real-time to induce physio-psychological responses. Through the mechanism of this study, there is no need to have a large number of playlists or conduct playlist planning in advance. In addition, sportspeople can also choose music according to their own preferences, which can all be turned into sports-oriented music through algorithms.

5. Conclusions

This study successfully introduced the interactive music tempo control with a closed-loop heart rate feedback mechanism to realize synchronous and asynchronous music experiments with the same music element as the control variable (same song). During the shuttle run and shooting tasks in the experimental results, listening to interactive music had a significant effect on the heart rate (Condition × HR), average heart rate (Condition × aHR), and RPE (Condition × RPE) of the basketball player; the result is also statistically significant ( p < 0.05). Among them, the heart rate in the first 20 s of listening to the synchronous music sprint was significantly higher than that without music (HR 20 with SIM: 138.65 ± 18.25 BPM; HR 20 with NM: 135.91 ± 17.51 BPM), and the overall RPE was significantly lower than that of asynchronous music and no music. This means that basketball players listening to synchronous music have increased arousal and decreased RPE than asynchronous music and no music during exercise tasks. The contribution of this study lies in the ability to add personalized music that is close to the rhythm of the body during basketball training so that basketball players can better feel the rhythm of the body. The music helped basketball players to adjust the rhythm of their movements. There were 60.87% of players’ RPE values significantly lowered in exercise tasks with SIM condition; the results show that with SIM (RPE 20 : 4.70 ± 2.58, RPE 40 : 5.70 ± 2.16, RPE 60 : 6.87 ± 2.01, RPE 5th : 4.26 ± 2.09) and NM (RPE 20 : 5.09 ± 2.59, RPE 40 : 6.13 ± 1.79, RPE 60 : 7.70 ± 1.58, RPE 5th : 5.43 ± 1.81). In particular, the affection for the asynchronous mode of the interactive music tempo did not lower the RPE values obviously. In contrast, the RPE values of 82.61% of participants were raised with AIM condition (the results show that with AIM (RPE 10th : 4.22 ± 2.35) and NM (RPE 10th : 3.96 ± 1.99)). According to these results, it is possible to positively improve the basketball players’ arousal and lower fatigue when they receive a custom-made music tempo interaction scheme in their training courses. The mechanism of this study does not require a large number of playlists and pre-planned playlists, it just needs sportspeople to choose their favorite songs, and all songs can be turned into sports-oriented music through algorithms. In addition, the parameters and variables of our synchronous mode and asynchronous mode in this article can be adjusted and applied to more sports fields, or post-exercise recovery, even in addition to synchronized music based on heart rate. In the future, it can also be discussed to adjust other musical parameters in real-time based on physiological signals, such as tonality, beats, chords, orchestration, etc. The scope of application to recreational sports is not limited to professional sports training courses.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all participants who contributed to this study. Thanks to the Nanshan High School basketball team, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University basketball team, and Chunghwa Telecom WSBL basketball team for serving as participants.

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://github.com/chani1206/interactive-HR-music , File S1: HeartRateService.java; File S2: CustomBluetoothProfile.java; File S3: Fragment3.java; Video S1: ExperimentProcedure.mp4 (accessed on 8 April 2022).

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, C.-C.C. and L.-C.T.; methodology, C.-C.C. and L.-C.T.; software, W.-H.C. and Y.C.; validation, C.-C.C., Y.C., and L.-C.T.; formal analysis, Y.C. and L.-C.T.; writing—original draft preparation, Y.C. and L.-C.T.; writing—review and editing, W.-H.C.; funding acquisition, W.-H.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research was funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, R.O.C., grant numbers MOST 110-2622-8-009-018-SN and MOST 110-2622-8-007-019.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Research Ethics Committee for Human Subject Protection, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University.

Informed Consent Statement

Written informed consent was obtained from the individual(s), and minor(s)’ legal guardian/next of kin, for the publication of any potentially identifiable images or data included in this article.

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of interest.

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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In situ estimation of phytoplankton community growth rate inside dialysis membrane bags: a bioassay experiment at a fish farm in the eastern Aegean Sea

• Primary Research Paper
• Published: 16 September 2024

Cite this article

• Betül Bardakcı Şener   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7270-4213 1 &
• Eyüp Mümtaz Tıraşın   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2597-9609 2  

We conducted a study to investigate the potential effects of nutrients released from a fish farm, which fell within the typical range found in oligotrophic offshore waters of the Aegean Sea, on phytoplankton growth. We designed an in situ bioassay experiment at a fish farm and incubated natural phytoplankton assemblages inside dialysis membrane bags for six days. Changes in phytoplankton growth in samples of ambient seawater collected throughout the experiment served as controls and were considered indicative of the net population change rates. Half of the bags were filled with seawater filtered through a 150-µm mesh, while the other half contained unfiltered seawater. The growth rates, estimated based on chlorophyll a concentrations and phytoplankton cell numbers inside the filtered and unfiltered bags, showed no significant differences. While no detectable net phytoplankton growth occurred in the ambient seawater, there was an exponential increase in chlorophyll a content and cell numbers within the bags. Moreover, the species richness within the bags gradually declined throughout the experiment. The findings of the study confirm that continuous nutrient releases from fish farms can promote high population growth rates in oligotrophic environments, provided that phytoplankton losses due to grazing, advection, and sinking are minimized or eliminated.

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Data collected and analyzed within the current study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank Akvatek Aquaculture Inc. for their kind permission to allow us to carry out the in situ bioassay experiment on their fish farm. We would like to thank Dr Güngör Muhtaroğlu for his generous support and for granting us the use of the facilities of the farm during the course of this study. We are very grateful to Tahsin Han and Cumhur Şahin of Akvatek for their assistance in designing the experiment and during every phase of the fieldwork. We also thank Dr Filiz Küçüksezgin and Dr Güzel Yücel Gier for helpful discussions. The first author will submit this paper as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree at Dokuz Eylül University.

This study was funded by Dokuz Eylül University, Department of Scientific Research Projects (Project Number: 2019KBFEN017). Provided funds also included an 18-month fellowship for Author B. B. Şener.

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Betül B. Şener contributed toward conceptualization; data curation; formal analysis; investigation; methodology; validation; visualization; writing—original draft; and writing—review & editing. E. Mümtaz Tıraşın contributed toward conceptualization; formal analysis; funding acquisition; investigation; project administration; resources; supervision; writing—original draft; and writing—review & editing.

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Şener, B.B., Tıraşın, E.M. In situ estimation of phytoplankton community growth rate inside dialysis membrane bags: a bioassay experiment at a fish farm in the eastern Aegean Sea. Hydrobiologia (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-024-05643-x

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Received : 10 June 2023

Revised : 18 June 2024

Accepted : 08 July 2024

Published : 16 September 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-024-05643-x

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