| Keywords |
PMV ; Electroencephalography ; Stress ; Thermal comfort ; Alpha-amylase |
| Abstract |
To assess stress levels associated with thermal comfort, this study measured stress levels in different Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) conditions using verbal vote, electroencephalographic (EEG), and salivary α-amylase assessments. This study was conducted in a climate chamber to regulate and experimentally manipulate PMV conditions. Environmental factors were set to 7 different PMV levels, from ?3 to +3 by units. EEGs were measured for each subject using 8 electrodes covering the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes, for 65 min for each PMV condition. Following EEG collection, saliva samples (for alpha (α)-amylase quantification) and a verbal report were gathered for each subject. The EEG and salivary α-amylase responses were similar, in that both tests showed the 0 to +2 conditions were relatively non-stressful compared to other conditions. On the other hand, the verbal reports indicated that the ?1 to +1 conditions were relatively non-stressful. |