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Effects of contact with wood on blood pressure and subjective evaluation.

Authors :
Satoshi Sakuragawa
Tomoyuki Kaneko
Yoshifumi Miyazaki
Source :
Journal of Wood Science; Apr2008, Vol. 54 Issue 2, p107-113, 7p
Publication Year :
2008

Abstract

Abstract  This study examined the effects of contact with wood on the living human body using a physiological index and subjective evaluation. Consecutive blood pressure measurements were used as the physiological index, and sensory evaluation using the semantic differential (SD) method was used for subjective evaluation. Consideration was also given to cases in which materials were cooled and heated as well as kept at room temperature, to eliminate the effects of heat flux due to differences in thermal conductivity between wood and other materials. It was found that contact with wood produced coarse/natural sensations, with no associated increase in systolic blood pressure. Contact with cold wood created subjectively dangerous/uncomfortable but still coarse/natural sensations, also with no associated increase in blood pressure; therefore, there was no correspondence between subjective evaluation and physiological responses. Contact with aluminum kept at room temperature and cold acrylic plastic created flat/artificial and dangerous/uncomfortable sensations, with an associated significant increase in blood pressure; thus, there was a close correlation between subjective evaluation and physiological responses. It was therefore concluded that contact with wood, unlike artificial materials such as aluminum, induces no physiological stress even when kept at room temperature or cooled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
14350211
Volume :
54
Issue :
2
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Journal of Wood Science
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
33150063
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-007-0915-7