Heart rate wavelet coherence analysis to investigate group entrainment

Unobtrusive, wearable sensors that measure physiological signals can provide useful information on an individual’s autonomic response. In this paper, we propose techniques to jointly analyze heart rate variations from a group of individuals in order to study group dynamics. We use wavelet coherence to analyze the RR interval signals from a group of N≥2N≥2 individuals and uncover shared frequency components as a function of time. We study the intrinsic delay and accuracy limitations of a possible real time implementation. We substantiate our analysis with data obtained from Kundalini yoga meditation sessions that reveal a coherence pattern among the individuals as they perform particular prescribed activities. The methodology proposed in this paper may help quantify coherence of the autonomic response of groups involved in numerous everyday activities.