Clothing pressure alters brain wave activity in the occipital and parietal lobes

Abstract

Despite the importance of clothing pressure discomfort in the undergarment industry, a reliable unbiased measurement of clothing pressure discomfort has not been well-established. In the present study, we investigate changes in brain wave activity as a potential objective and consistent measuring tool for clothing pressure discomfort. We recorded α wave activity in 5 functional regions (30 channels) of the brain in 10 females with or without a girdle. We determined that α wave power spectrum significantly increases when the girdle is worn compared to when it is not worn, specifically in the parietal and occipital regions. These findings suggest that clothing pressure exerted by wearing a girdle mostly stimulates the parietal and occipital regions and that these regions should be investigated in future studies using α wave energy to measure clothing pressure discomfort.