Table 1. Studies on peripheral-physiological correlates of the flow state.

Ref.	N subjects	Age mean/ range	Sample	Experiment type	Design	Measure	Peripheral-physiological correlates of flow
Kivikangas (2006)	32(m)	17–34	Healthy students	FPS game: Halo: combat evolved	40 min gameplay	FEMG, EDA	Negative correlations between CS activity & flow
Chanel et al. (2008)	20 (7f)	27	Healthy participants	Tetris game	5 min Under-challenged, Flow, Over-challenged	EDA, BP, Res, T	Increase in EDA & HR with increasing difficulty
Nacke & Lindley (2008)	25(m)	19–38	Healthy students	FPS game: Half-Life 2	10 min Under-challenged, Immersion, Flow	FEMG, EDA	Highest ZM activity & EDA values in the flow condition
Drachen et al. (2010)	16	–	–	FPS games: Prey, Doom3, Biochock	20 min gameplay	EDA, HR	Negative correlation between HR & flow subscale score
Chanel et al. (2011)	20(7f)	27	Healthy participants	Tetris game	5 min Under-challenged, Flow, Over-challenged	EDA, BP, Res, T, EEG	Least LF-HRV in the flow condition
Keller et al. (2011)	8(4f) 61(m)	–	Healthy students	Computerized knowledge task, Tetris game	Under-challenged, Flow, Over-challenged	HRV, Cortisol	Lower HRV & higher cortisol in the flow condition
Peifer et al. (2014)	22(m)	20–34	Healthy students	Cabin Air Management System software	60 min performance	ECG, Cortisol	Inverted U-shaped relationship of LF-HRV & cortisol level with the flow experience; positive linear relationship between HF-HRV & flow
Léger et al. (2014)	36	–	Healthy students	Enterprise Resource Planning software	Under-challenged, Flow, Over-challenged	ECG, EDA, EEG	Smaller variation of EDA, lower HR, & higher HRV in the flow condition
Harmat et al. (2015)	77(40f)	27	Healthy subjects	Tetris game	6 min Under-challenged, Flow, Over-challenged	fNIRS, ECG, Res	Larger RD & lower LF-HRV in the flow condition
Tozman et al. (2015)	18(6f)	19	Healthy students	Sporting race game: Rfactor	6 min Under-challenged, Flow, Over-challenged	ECG	Negative linear relationship between LF-HRV & flow in the flow condition; Inverted U-shaped relation between LF-HRV / HF-HRV & flow in the anxiety condition
Bian et al. (2016)	36(16f)	20–27	Healthy adults	VR game: Air Bombardment	6 min gameplay	ECG, Res, FEMG	Inverted U-shaped relationship between LF-HRV, HF-HRV, & flow
Harris, Vine & Wilson (2016)	33(10f)	20	Healthy students	Simulated car racing game	Under-challenged, Flow, Over-challenged	ECG, eye gaze position	Lower SD of horizontal gaze position & Lower HF-HRV in the flow condition
Ulrich, Keller & Grön (2016)	23(m)	24	Healthy students	Mental arithmetic task	30 s Under-challenged, Flow, Over-challenged	fMRI, EDA	Greater EDA in the flow condition
Tian et al. (2017)	40(27f)	17–24	Healthy students	Blocmania 3D game	6 min Under-challenged, Flow, Over-challenged	ECG, Res, EDA	Faster respiratory rate, increased RD, moderate HR, moderate HRV, & moderate EDA in the flow condition
De Sampaio Barros et al. (2018)	20 (7f)	26	Healthy adults	Tetris, Pong games	3 min Under-challenged, Flow, Over-challenged, Autonomy	ECG, Res, NIRS	Lower HRV in the autonomy condition
Kozhevnikov et al. (2018)	56(17f)	–	Healthy students	Unreal Tournament 2004 game	30 min Under-challenged, Flow, Over-challenged	ECG	Lower HF-HRV in the flow condition
Moreno et al. (2020)	1	27	Expert gamer	Portal game	45 min gameplay	EDA, EEG	Increased EDA during moments of goal attainment

Notes.

ECG

electrocardiography

EEG

electroencephalography

FEMG

facial electromyography

EDA

electrodermal activity

BP

blood pressure

T

temperature

HR

heart rate

HP

heart period

ZM

zygomaticus major

CS

corrugator supercilii

HRV

heart rate variability

LF-HRV

low-frequency heart-rate variability

HF-HRV

high-frequency heart-rate variability

Res

respiration

RD

respiratory depth

fNIRS

functional near-infrared spectroscopy

NIRS

near-infrared spectroscopy

fMRI

functional magnetic resonance imaging

FPS

first person shooter

SD

standard deviation

m

male

f

female