Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 30, 2026

Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance
Published on: July 19, 2017
Correlations between anxiety and the stress responses of electrogastrography (EGG) induced by the mirror drawing test
1Division of Organ Physiology, Department of Regenerative and Transplant Medicine, Institute of Medicine and Dentistry, Niigata University, Academic Assembly, Japan.
Abstract:
Electrogastrograms (EGGs) were recorded at 16 locations on the thoraco-abdominal surface at rest and then both during and after the acute stress of performing the mirror drawing test (MDT). A significant linear correlation with a negative slope was found between the anxiety scores and the ratio of the power content during MDT to the power content at rest (r) (MDTr(-1)) of the 3 cpm component from the epigastric channel 2 recording. In contrast, significant linear correlations with positive slopes were found between the anxiety scores and MDTr(-1) of the 6 cpm component of the recordings from the infraumbilical channels (channels 13, 15, and 16). The epigastric 3-cpm EGG activity reflects gastric myoelectric activity, while the infraumbilical 3- and 6-cpm activity reflects that of the colon. Therefore, these results seem to further support the previous report of the inhibition of gastric EGG by stress and the stress-mediated facilitation of colonic EGG (Homma S, J Smooth Muscle Res. 2012; 48(2-3): 47-57).

