Enabling a Better Understanding of the Mind-Body Connection Through Advanced Health Research

Mental health impacts nearly every aspect of our daily lives, from our physical health to our relationships with friends, family, and communities, as well as productivity at work and beyond. Despite the critical role mental health plays in overall well-being, most technology is centered around physical health. Samsung is committed to fostering innovative health solutions for both today and the future, which is we frequently collaborate with leading medical institutions and universities to leverage advanced technologies and explore new possibilities in health and wellness.

In support of World Mental Health Day, Samsung is highlighting ongoing research programs with Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT Media Lab, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and Tulane University School of Medicine, Heart and Vascular Institute. Samsung has collaborated with these institutions to create a range of studies that dive deep into the mind-body connection. By examining various health indicators, including depression, mood, recovery, and even cardiovascular diseases, Samsung and leading medical institutions seek to deliver more comprehensive and preventative health solutions for all.

Enabling Depression Prevention & Detection with Massachusetts General Hospital

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) continues to analyze the correlation between depression and various biomarkers by evaluating the health metrics of 150 participants — each with different levels of depression — using Galaxy Watch. The study aims to validate the correlations between depression and biometrics, such as participants’ patterns of biometric data, active time, sleep stage, and latency on both weekends and weekdays, to identify more detailed characteristics. The findings will be used to introduce a mental health index, allowing users to better understand their mental state and take proactive measures.

Measuring Well-Being through Sleep with MIT Media Lab

MIT Media Lab has expanded the understanding of sleep’s role in well-being by linking sleep patterns to overall health. Approximately 200 college students participated in the study, tracking their sleep over the course of a month and self-evaluating across five well-being indicators every morning, including alertness, happiness, energy, health, and calmness. The study found strong associations between sleep and well-being, particularly when considering not only sleep duration, but also sleep regularity. Moreover, utilizing an AI-based mixed-effect random forest (MERF) model, MIT Media Lab was able to predict the participants’ self- reported well-being based on their sleep patterns within a mean absolute error of 11- 15 points on a 100 point scaler, which closely matched their self-evaluation results. This outcome highlights the link between sleep and well-being, as well as the possibility of personalized well-being assessment and management through the analysis of sleep patterns.

Helping Rapid Recovery with Brigham & Women’s Hospital

Brigham & Women’s Hospital (BWH) is studying the relationship between biomarkers and an individual’s resilience, or how quickly one recovers from major stressors. As a holistic measure, resilience captures both the capacity of the body and the mind to withstand major events such as disease and surgery. As a first use case, they are monitoring patients before, during and after undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) surgery. Galaxy Watch tracks participants’ lifestyle patterns and health conditions in real time while the data is automatically collected and analyzed using the Samsung Health Research Stack, a system designed to increase the efficiency and accuracy of large-scale research. This study aims to uncover insights into recovery and ability to withstand stressors, not only to help inform from medical decisions, but also help individuals understand how they can be prepared in both mind and body for any challenges that may come.

Identifying Cardiovascular Risks¹ with Tulane University School of Medicine

Mental health has a well-established relationship with reduced risk of future cardiovascular disease. Tulane University School of Medicine is utilizing data from the Galaxy Watch and Samsung Health SDK to create biomarkers for early detection of cardiovascular disease risk factors. The study will closely monitor thousands of participants from diverse demographics and areas of high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and risk factors for up to three years. The participants’ health records and biometric data will then be analyzed to examine complex and interconnected health factors. Samsung and Tulane’s Heart and Vascular Institute hope to identify factors that impact cardiovascular disease, with a goal of developing algorithms for individual cardiovascular disease prediction and prevention.

“At Samsung, we are committed to supporting the health community by unlocking new frontiers that were previously impossible to explore,” said Dr. Hon Pak, Senior Vice President and Head of Digital Health Team, MX Business at Samsung Electronics. “That’s why we collaborate with leading medical institutions and accelerate research focused on the mind-body connection, leveraging our sensor technology and combined expertise to deliver truly holistic and preventative health solutions.”

About Massachusetts General Hospital

Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The Mass General Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with annual research operations of more than $1 billion and comprises more than 9,500 researchers working across more than 30 institutes, centers and departments. MGH is a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system.

About the MIT Media Lab

At the intersection of engineering, design, science, and art, the MIT Media Lab is an interdisciplinary creative playground rooted in academic excellence, made up of dozens of research groups, initiatives, and centers working collaboratively on hundreds of projects. Our overarching research themes address global challenges from wellbeing and cryptocurrencies to robotics and sustainable futures. Committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, the MIT Media Lab collaborates with corporations, governments, NGOs, donors, and others around the globe to drive impactful change across sectors. Learn more at media.mit.edu.

About Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Brigham and Women’s Hospital is a world-class academic medical center based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Brigham serves patients from New England, across the United States and from 120 countries around the world. A major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital has a legacy of clinical excellence that continues to grow year after year.

The Brigham network includes 1,200 doctors throughout New England working across 150 outpatient practices. An international leader in virtually every area of medicine, the Brigham has led numerous medical and scientific breakthroughs that have improved lives around the world.

U.S. News & World Report recognizes Brigham and Women’s Hospital among the best hospitals in many specialty areas, including cancer, heart and vascular, diabetes and endocrine disorders, ear, nose and throat, gastroenterology and GI surgery, geriatric care, gynecology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology, rheumatology, and urology.

About Tulane University School of Medicine

Founded in 1834 as the Medical College of Louisiana, Tulane University School of Medicine is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States. Established to combat yellow fever and smallpox in New Orleans, the school is a leading institution known for medical education, research, and patient care.  Over the years, it has significantly contributed to medicine, including groundbreaking research and innovative treatments.  Today, Tulane continues its legacy of excellence, training the next generation of healthcare leaders and advancing medical knowledge.

Tulane Medicine recruits top faculty, researchers, and students from around the world so they can collaborate and develop groundbreaking medical research and surgical advances. From new drugs to innovative care techniques, or the invention of the binocular microscope to robotic surgeries, we remain a constant presence at the forefront of modern medical innovation. Tulane Medicine equips the next generation of medical professionals – whether scientific or clinical – with a broad set of tools to succeed in a rapidly changing world.   When you see the Tulane Shield, you always know that the future of medicine… is here.

¹ The heart rate software functions are not intended for medical use.