Fabbri, Renato (2026). BSC Lab - Sensory Stimulation Ontology (SSTIM) and open stimulation platform (v0.7.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21380171
An OWL 2 ontology for describing parameter-specified delivery of structured sensory input, including techniques, protocols, implementations, exposure conditions, observations, safety metadata, and evidence-qualified claims.
Ontologia de Estimulação Sensorial (SSTIM)
Ontologia della Stimolazione Sensoriale (SSTIM)
Ontología de Estimulación Sensorial (SSTIM)
Sensory Stimulation Ontology (SSTIM)
v0.1.0 (2026-04): Initial public release. Vocabulary seeded from BSC preset catalog v0.9.1. Term 'Sensory Stimulation' adopted as the established umbrella over the coined term 'Sensory Harnessing'.
v0.2.0 (2026-06): Added sstim:CautionTag, sstim:VoiceType, and sstim:PermutationFunction classification classes and the sstim:hasCautionTag property; dual-typed the caution, voice-type, permutation, and stimulus-temporal-structure SKOS concepts; added the StimulusTemporalStructure concept scheme; completed it/pt/es prefLabel coverage across the vocabulary; added external upper-ontology label stubs. Backward-compatible minor release (no terms removed or renamed).
v0.2.0 erratum (2026-06): Corrected external alignment IRIs that had been wrong since 0.1.0: every Wikidata QID (all resolved to unrelated entities), the EvidenceClaim parent (iao:0000001 'conditional specification' → iao:0000030 'information content entity'), the obsolete OBI planned-process parent (added cob:0000082), a non-existent ORCID (replaced with the verified ORCID 0000-0002-9699-629X), and a dead repository link. No vocabulary terms changed.
v0.3.0 (2026-06): Added sstim-v:TechniqueScheme — a vendor-neutral controlled vocabulary of auditory and cross-modal sensory stimulation techniques — together with seven new StimulationMechanism concepts (ASSR, auditory-motor coupling, closed-loop phase reinforcement, masking, vibrotactile mechanoreception, acoustic startle, ultrasonic neuromodulation) and the sstim:techniqueModality property. Two non-evidence-bearing folk techniques are catalogued and explicitly flagged via skos:editorialNote. Additive, backward-compatible release (no terms removed or renamed).
v0.5.0 (2026-07): Domain-content coverage (P5) and evidence-integrity governance (P7). Added visual, tactile, and cross-modal techniques with the steady-state evoked-potential mechanism family (SSVEP, SSSEP, multisensory integration) (ADR 0015); reference-pitch retuning with the carrier-vs-modulation evidence firewall (ADR 0017); the modality-nomenclature cleanup — the somatosensory/haptic/tactile/vibrotactile convention and the sstim-v: to sstim-ex: perceived-modality closeMatch bridge (ADR 0019); visual/tactile/multisensory evidence-modality tags (VIS, TACTILE, MULTISENSORY); the C0-C5 public-claim-level taxonomy with SHACL claim-legality and the conditional-citation constraint (ADR 0018); and the first populated technique EvidenceClaim instances (P5.4, instance data). Version 0.4.0 was the standalone exposure / Sensory Field module release (ADR 0010, 0011). Additive, backward-compatible (no terms removed or renamed).
v0.6.0 (2026-07): Semantic-quality release. Controlled vocabulary categories are modeled consistently as information content entities; session specifications are PROV plans and session instances are stimulation interventions; self-reports support explicit collection phases; caution tags carry machine-readable severity and action metadata; scalar cardinalities, definitions, evidence provenance, and integrity constraints are strengthened. An external automated audit removed the obsolete OBI planned-process superclass, narrowed the technique upper alignment, completed FAIR metadata, and corrected safety-source attribution. The maintainer guided and accepted the release review; independent human ontology review is deferred. See ADR 0021, ADR 0022, and the 2026-07-10 external automated review report.
v0.7.0 (2026-07): Evidence and ecosystem governance release. ADR 0027 replaces overloaded evidence claims with immutable assessment revisions, atomic bounded propositions, qualified evidence bases, explicit scope axes, source/search governance, and PROV review decisions while retaining deprecated compatibility terms. ADRs 0024 and 0031 add the neutral EcosystemAgent module, qualified relationships and memberships, implementation responsibility, purpose-scoped admission activities, a closed public projection, and separate access-controlled audit shapes. Public fixtures are synthetic; real live-only ecosystem records remain outside the Zenodo-tracked release repository.
v0.9.0 (2026-07): Stimulation and neuromodulation release (ADR 0034). Adds a neutral sstim:Stimulation umbrella and sstim:Neuromodulation sibling at the process, intervention, technique, and protocol layers, with the overlap named at each layer as a defined intersection class requiring an intended canonical sensory-transduction route: neither family subsumes the other. Adds five orthogonal facet axes — neural access route, delivery approach, neural target site, neural system, and neural phenomenon — kept separate because a route, a dynamic, a system, and an outcome domain are not values on one scale, and reused across intended, proposed-mechanism, and observed-outcome roles by distinct properties. Shared domains and ranges widen to the neutral parents so a non-sensory technique can be the subject of a conformant evidence assessment. Retypes focused-ultrasound neuromodulation off the sensory hierarchy and redefines it by its intended focused neural target rather than by absence of an audible percept; deprecates five response-as-mechanism entries (FFR, ASSR, SSVEP, SSSEP, acoustic startle) in favour of typed neural-phenomenon concepts, removing their mechanism typing and scheme topology rather than deprecating alone. Relabels TechniqueScheme, whose IRI was never sensory-scoped. Catalogues a six-technique non-sensory contrast set (rTMS, tDCS, tACS, DBS, VNS, targeted intrathecal delivery) so the route axis is exercised; none is referenced by any BSC preset, framework, protocol, or implementation, and inclusion asserts neither capability nor efficacy nor safety. Replaces the SHACL escape hatch in which any skos:editorialNote suppressed structural requirements with composed, disjointly-targeted shapes. Breaking on mutable latest for consumers of the retyped focused-ultrasound entry and the five deprecated mechanism IRIs; frozen 0.3.0-0.8.0 snapshots retain their published entailments.
released
Assessment Proposition
One immutable, atomic, independently assessable proposition evaluated by an evidence assessment: exactly one subject, one outcome concept, one scope, one proposition form, and exact text or digest.
Assessment Scope
The explicit modality, population/model, intervention/context, and comparator scope of an assessment proposition. Every axis carries a named value or an explicit unknown / not-reported / not-applicable marker; omission never means universal applicability.
Bibliographic Reference
A bibliographic record of a published source. Being recorded implies neither endorsement nor permission to quote, reproduce, or display the source.
Binaural Voice
Two sine tones at slightly different frequencies (fl, fr) presented dichotically to produce a perceived beat at |fr - fl| Hz.
Canonical Sensory Transduction Access Route
A neural access route that engages canonical sensory receptor transduction and afferent processing. This is the route value that distinguishes the sensory-route neuromodulation overlap from approaches that bypass canonical sensory transduction.
Caution Severity
A controlled ordinal category for prioritizing a caution tag in user interfaces and validation. Severity describes the response required by the application; it is not a clinical diagnosis or risk probability.
Caution Tag
Etichetta di Cautela
Etiqueta de Cautela
Etiqueta de Precaución
A safety or usage advisory flag attached to a preset, signalling conditions under which the preset may be unsuitable (e.g. photosensitivity risk, drowsiness, high sensory intensity). Advisory wellness metadata, not a medical contraindication.
Claim Direction
Whether a body of evidence supports, is mixed on, is inconclusive about, or refutes the asserted relation.
Comparator Descriptor
An identified description of the comparison condition (for example sham, no-stimulus, baseline, or alternative frequency) referenced by an assessment scope or evidence basis.
Conflict Disclosure
A record of declared conflicts of interest for a review, including the explicit declaration that no conflict was declared.
Effect Direction
The direction of the measured outcome (increase, decrease, or no change). Wellness-neutral; describes what was measured, not a health claim.
Entrainment-Based Technique
A Sensory Stimulation technique whose primary proposed mechanism involves frequency-following responses, phase-locking, or oscillatory coupling between a periodic stimulus and endogenous neural oscillations.
Binaural beat stimulation, isochronous tone stimulation, photic driving, Symmetry permutation entrainment.
Evidence Assessment Activity
The PROV activity that generates an evidence assessment revision. It used every qualified basis, its sources, and the immutable rubric/method revision actually applied, and carries a qualified association naming the responsible agent and role.
Evidence Assessment Claim
A versioned, immutable assessment of an identified evidence basis about one atomic bounded proposition. The sole concrete evidence-bearing class: exactly one evidence tier and one claim direction, at least one qualified evidence basis, and exactly one assessed proposition. A correction mints a new revision IRI linked with prov:wasRevisionOf; it never edits a published revision in place.
Evidence Basis
One qualified contribution of a single source to an evidence assessment, carrying source-level modality, intervention, study design, model/population, synthesis, and observed-result metadata separately from the assessment's own conclusion.
Evidence Claim
Compatibility superclass of evidence assessments. Direct instantiation is rejected by SHACL: every instance must carry a concrete evidence subtype (sstim:EvidenceAssessmentClaim). Hypotheses, research questions, boundary applicability, requirements, design objectives, planned outcomes, knowledge-status assertions, and session observations are never EvidenceClaims.
Narrowed 2026-07-13 (ADR 0027) from a single overloaded claim class to the compatibility superclass of EvidenceAssessmentClaim.
Evidence Modality Tag (deprecated)
Deprecated ADR 0027: the tag conflated sensory modality (AUD, AV, VIS, TACTILE, MULTISENSORY), intervention (BREATH), study model (PRECLINICAL), and synthesis type (REVIEW). Authoritative data uses the orthogonal basis axes; the class survives only for the generated non-authoritative 0.7 compatibility view and is removed no earlier than 1.0.
Evidence Outcome Concept
A controlled endpoint, response, or mechanism category used to identify what a proposition or reported source result is about. It is a category, not an observed result or benefit.
Evidence Proposition Form
The logical form of an assessment proposition: bounded relation, bounded null result, scoped search finding, or universal absence. Universal-absence propositions never conform; a scoped search finding requires an evidence search record basis.
Evidence Review Activity
The PROV activity that reviews exactly one assessment revision under a named rubric/policy revision and generates an immutable evidence review decision.
Evidence Review Decision
An immutable review decision about one assessment revision: reviewer relationship, independence determination, and decision are independent axes. A later decision supersedes or invalidates the earlier one; no mutable effective-review pointer exists.
Evidence Search Activity
The PROV activity that executes an evidence search and generates an immutable evidence search record, with execution times and a qualified responsible agent/role.
Evidence Search Record
An immutable, reproducible record of a literature/evidence search: sources, exact query, coverage dates, eligibility criteria, result count, and content digest. Supports only scoped 'no eligible evidence found' findings, never universal absence.
Evidence Synthesis Type
The synthesis level of an evidence source: primary study, narrative review, systematic review, meta-analysis, literature review, or tutorial. A narrative review does not acquire systematic-review status merely because it synthesizes literature.
Evidence Tier Value
A classification of empirical support strength for a specific stimulation claim, accounting for study quality, result consistency, modality match, and population match. Six tiers: speculative(1) through established(6). A tier is meaningful only together with the claim direction and the bounded proposition scope it was assigned to.
Banda de Frecuencia
Banda de Frequência
Banda di Frequenza
Frequency Band
An information entity describing a named Hz range used in BSC protocol design for targeting and evidence classification. BSC operational design category — not a medical diagnostic taxonomy or universal EEG ontology.
Frequency Band Group
Grupo de Bandas de Frecuencia
Grupo de Bandas de Frequência
Gruppo di Bande di Frequenza
A named collection of frequency bands used as a SKOS scheme root or aggregate grouping concept. Not a band with a specific Hz range; used for SKOS hierarchy navigation (skos:narrower* traversal) rather than for range arithmetic.
Governed Research Output
A versioned study record, dataset revision, or analysis output admitted as an evidence source. Requires exactly one source-governance record; an ungoverned dataset cannot serve as an evidence basis source.
Independence Determination
A policy-based determination of reviewer independence: independent, not independent, or undetermined. An independent or not-independent determination requires a named independence policy and conflict disclosure.
Intended Effect
A controlled information category identifying a target change in physiological, psychological, or cognitive state that a sensory stimulation intervention is designed to facilitate. It records design intent, not a guaranteed outcome.
Martigli-Binaural Voice
Binaural beat combined with Martigli breathing oscillation. Both carriers sweep in parallel, maintaining constant beat frequency while timbral register evolves with breathing.
Martigli Voice
A single tone whose frequency oscillates sinusoidally with a breathing arc that decelerates linearly from mp0 to mp1 over md seconds.
Modality Applicability
A controlled statement of how sensory modality applies to an evidence source: mixed modalities, unknown/not reported, or not applicable. Distinct states, never a wildcard.
Neural Access Route
A controlled category for the biological route through which a stimulation process is intended to engage a neural target. Route values describe the declared intended route; a competing or demonstrated actual mechanism remains an evidence-qualified statement recorded on a mechanism or outcome concept.
'Receptor' on this axis means a canonical sensory receptor, never a molecular drug receptor. Mixed access is represented by multiple route values, which is not the same as uncertainty; an unresolved route is an epistemic status recorded by a scoped knowledge-status assertion, not a pseudo-route.
Neural Phenomenon
A controlled information category for a coherent functional neural phenomenon, such as excitability or firing, oscillatory dynamics, temporal coordination, synaptic transmission, neurochemical signaling, connectivity or plasticity, and autonomic neural regulation.
One value set is reused across proposed-mechanism, intended-target, and observed-outcome roles, which are kept distinct by three separate properties. This axis replaces any single 'target level' axis: a route, a dynamic, a system, and an outcome domain are not values on one scale.
Neural System
A controlled information category for a distributed organizational neural system — sensory, motor, autonomic, or a named sensory subsystem. This is the axis for neuromodulation of a sensory system; it does not imply that the intervention entered through that sensory system.
Neural Target Site
A controlled information category for a broad anatomical target of a stimulation process, such as brain, cortex, deep-brain structure, spinal cord, peripheral nerve, or cranial nerve. It is a classification category, not the anatomical entity itself.
A local target category may have more than one broader concept; no forced single-parent tree is required. External anatomy alignment is a separate, evidence-checked pass.
Neuromodulación
Neuromodulation
Neuromodulazione
Neuromodulação
In SSTIM, a deliberately applied stimulation process whose declared intervention objective is to alter activity or function at an identified neural target. Anatomical site and distributed neural system are recorded on separate facets. Membership records target and design intent; whether modulation occurred is represented separately through observations and evidence.
This intervention-side class excludes endogenous physiological neuromodulation and stimulation performed solely to probe or measure a response without a neural-modulation objective. It does not mean treatment or successful modulation. It neither subsumes nor is subsumed by sstim:SensoryStimulation; the two overlap, and the overlap is named by sstim:SensoryRouteNeuromodulation (ADR 0034).
Neuromodulation Intervention
A specific, designed execution of a neuromodulation process, with a declared neural access route, delivery approach, and intended neural target. Membership does not assert successful modulation, benefit, or safety.
Neuromodulation Protocol
A protocol whose planned objective is to alter activity or function at an identified neural target. It remains an information artifact: a protocol records the planned objective through this type plus its route and target facets, while the realized process is typed as an intervention.
Neuromodulation Technique
Tecnica di Neuromodulazione
Técnica de Neuromodulación
Técnica de Neuromodulação
A stimulation technique whose defining intervention objective is to alter activity or function at an identified neural target, with anatomical site and distributed neural system recorded separately. Membership does not assert successful modulation, benefit, or safety.
Cataloguing a neuromodulation technique states that SSTIM can describe it, not that BSC Lab delivers it or that it is effective. A proposed neural mechanism or an evoked response is not by itself a neuromodulation objective (ADR 0034 §2).
Non-Entrainment Technique
A Sensory Stimulation technique whose proposed mechanism does not rely on frequency-following responses. Includes stochastic resonance, autonomic respiratory entrainment, and attentional anchoring via ambient structured sound.
Calibrated pink noise for stochastic resonance, Martigli breathing oscillation, ambient Symmetry sequences for attentional anchoring.
Permutation Function
A named reordering rule applied to a Symmetry voice note sequence at each cycle boundary (identity, rotate forward, rotate backward, reversal, shuffle).
Population Descriptor
An identified description of a study population or participant group referenced by an assessment scope or evidence basis.
Preset
A reusable, versioned parameter configuration for a sensory stimulation implementation, specifying audio architecture, target frequency bands, evidence grounding, safety metadata, and multilingual content for a possible session. A preset follows a protocol or framework but is not itself the protocol.
Preset Group
A classification of BSC presets by design character, evidence strength, and use context. Five groups: Heal, Support, Perform, Indulge, Transcend.
Livello di Affermazione Pubblica
Nivel de Afirmación Pública
Nível de Alegação Pública
Public Claim Level
A named ceiling on what a sensory-stimulation product may assert about itself on a public-facing surface, ordered from descriptive fact to quantified/superiority claims. Each level carries the minimum evidence-tier rank required to assert at that level publicly, so over-claiming is machine-checkable. A risk-reduction classification, not legal advice.
Public-Safe Reference
A peer-reviewed publication cleared for citation in BSC user-facing content. Must be cleared in the BSC Reference Agent before use in preset techDesc fields.
Review Decision Value
The outcome of an evidence review: confirm, request revision, or reject.
Review Status
The audit status of an evidence claim's tier assignment (provisional, reviewed, or needs update).
Reviewer Relationship
The relationship of a review's agent to the assessed work: self, same organization, external, or unknown. External relationship never implies independence.
Scope Marker
A controlled marker stating that a scope axis is unknown, not reported, or not applicable. Mutually exclusive with concrete values on the same axis.
Self-Report
A consent-governed, session-associated self-assessment capturing subjective affect, focus, sleepiness, quality, and optional free text at an explicitly identified collection phase.
Self-Report Phase
A controlled category identifying when a self-report was collected relative to its associated session, such as before, immediately after, or at follow-up.
Modalidad Sensorial
Modalidade Sensorial
Modalità Sensoriale
Sensory Modality
A controlled information category identifying a channel of sensory perception through which stimulation is delivered or perceived. Values include auditory, visual, somatosensory, interoceptive, vestibular, and olfactory.
Neuromodulación por Vía Sensorial
Neuromodulazione per Via Sensoriale
Neuromodulação por Via Sensorial
Sensory-Route Neuromodulation
A stimulation process that is both sensory stimulation and neuromodulation, and that declares canonical sensory transduction and afferent processing as an intended causal route. This is the overlap of the two families, not a subclass of either alone.
Distinct from neuromodulation of a sensory system, which is a target-axis statement, and from a sensation merely accompanying neuromodulation, which is recorded through perceived modality and channel role (ADR 0034 §2).
Sensory-Route Neuromodulation Intervention
A planned or executed intervention that is both a sensory stimulation intervention and a neuromodulation intervention, declaring canonical sensory transduction and afferent processing as an intended causal route.
Sensory-Route Neuromodulation Protocol
A protocol that is both a sensory stimulation protocol and a neuromodulation protocol, declaring canonical sensory transduction and afferent processing as an intended causal route.
Sensory-Route Neuromodulation Technique
A technique that is both a sensory stimulation technique and a neuromodulation technique, declaring canonical sensory transduction and afferent processing as an intended causal route. A technique is dual-typed here only when neural-modulation intent is part of the technique concept's own definition, never because one possible use is neuromodulatory.
Estimulación Sensorial
Estimulação Sensorial
Sensory Stimulation
Stimolazione Sensoriale
A stimulation process whose defining intervention route engages canonical sensory transduction and afferent processing with structured input delivered according to specified parameters for a declared purpose. The class identifies the delivery process; any mechanism, response, or outcome is represented separately and requires its own evidence.
Conscious perception is not required, and an incidental sensation arising from another primary route is insufficient. Covers entrainment-based stimulation (binaural beats, isochronous tones), non-entrainment stimulation (stochastic resonance, attentional anchoring), and autonomic stimulation (paced respiratory entrainment). Does not include passive incidental sensory exposure.
Sensory Stimulation Framework
A broad information artifact defining a family of sensory stimulation principles, techniques, protocols, evidence rules, grouping logic, and design constraints. A framework can guide multiple protocols, implementations, presets, and sessions.
Sensory Stimulation Implementation
A concrete realization of a sensory stimulation framework or protocol, represented in SSTIM by the implementation identity and metadata. An implementation can be software, hardware, mechanical, manual, or hybrid.
Intervención de Estimulación Sensorial
Intervento di Stimolazione Sensoriale
Intervenção de Estimulação Sensorial
Sensory Stimulation Intervention
A specific, designed execution of Sensory Stimulation with defined parameters, target modalities, intended effect, and delivery mechanism. An intervention can realize a session specification derived from a preset, protocol, or framework.
Sensory Stimulation Protocol
A structured method specification for using one or more sensory stimulation techniques toward an intended use, including composition rules, timing, parameter ranges, constraints, and cautions. A protocol is narrower than a framework and can constrain many presets.
Sensory Stimulation Technique
Tecnica di Stimolazione Sensoriale
Técnica de Estimulación Sensorial
Técnica de Estimulação Sensorial
An information-content category for a reusable, parameterizable method of sensory stimulation, characterized by stimulus form, delivery mechanism, and any explicitly proposed response mechanism. A technique is less specific than a protocol and does not by itself provide enough detail to reproduce an intervention.
Sensory-Transduction-Bypassing Access Route
A neural access route that reaches its target without canonical sensory receptor transduction, whether by physical neural interaction, biochemical or pharmacological engagement, or indirect non-sensory physiological mediation.
An asserted bypass route positively identifies such a route; it does not prove the technique is non-sensory, because a hybrid may also declare an intended sensory route. Absence of a sensory type is not OWL negation.
Session Instance
The record of an actual execution of a session specification, including timing, completion status, platform, and optional self-report. Append-only: never modified after creation.
Session Specification
A complete, reproducible description of a specific intended execution of a preset, including user-defined overrides of preset defaults. The unit of scientific reproducibility: given a specification and a conforming engine, the acoustic output is fully determined.
Source Governance Record
An immutable record governing a research output used as evidence: source version and digest, custodian, access classification, consent/ethics basis or an explicit not-applicable determination, and permitted use scope, with generation time and a qualified responsible agent.
Estimulación
Estimulação
Stimolazione
Stimulation
A deliberately parameterized process in which structured physical energy, mechanical input, a chemical agent, or another controlled input is applied as a stimulus with a declared design intent to elicit, perturb, regulate, or probe an identified biological, sensory, or neural process. Mere exposure, administration, or energy transfer without that stimulation intent is insufficient. Classification does not assert excitation, conscious perception, response, benefit, or safety.
The neutral umbrella over sensory stimulation and interventional neuromodulation. It carries no commitment to an applied medium, delivery approach, biological access route, or anatomical target; those are recorded on separate facets (ADR 0034).
Stimulation Delivery Approach
A coarse, non-exclusive operational category summarizing how an input is introduced or an interface is positioned — for example external, transcutaneous, transcranial, implanted, or systemic. Detailed device, body placement, administration, and dose remain in the exposure profile.
Values are deliberately non-exclusive: a method may be external, transcutaneous, and transcranial at once. No approach tag is inferred from any other facet.
Stimulation Intervention
A specific, designed execution of a stimulation process with defined parameters, delivery, and intended effect. The neutral planned-process layer over sensory stimulation and neuromodulation interventions.
Mecanismo de Estimulación
Mecanismo de Estimulação
Meccanismo di Stimolazione
Stimulation Mechanism
A controlled information category identifying a proposed neurobiological or psychophysiological pathway through which a stimulus may produce a measured response or intended effect. Mechanism assignments require separate evidence assessment.
Stimulation Protocol
A structured method specification for using one or more stimulation techniques toward an intended use, including composition rules, timing, parameter ranges, constraints, and cautions. The neutral protocol layer over sensory stimulation and neuromodulation protocols.
Stimulation Technique
A reusable information-content category for a parameterizable stimulation method. Classification records the method's declared design intent and characteristic delivery, not that any response occurred.
The neutral technique layer over sensory stimulation and interventional neuromodulation techniques. Electrical, magnetic, acoustic, optical, thermal, and chemical stimulation are property-based views over this class, not primitive subclasses (ADR 0034 §4).
Stimulus Temporal Structure
The temporal organization of an applied stimulus or agent. Values cover carrier periodicity (periodic, quasi-periodic, aperiodic), closed-loop adaptation, discrete event and pulse-train patterns, and administration schedules. Values are non-disjoint and may be combined, because carrier periodicity, pulse pattern, and administration schedule are different temporal features. Detailed executed timing remains in the exposure profile.
Study Design
The design of the underlying studies contributing to an evidence source (for example randomized controlled trial, observational, case report, preclinical experiment, mixed, or unknown).
Study Model
The model or stage in which an evidence source's findings were produced (for example human participants, preclinical animal model, in vitro, computational).
Symmetry Voice
N notes log-distributed over I octaves, repeated with algebraic group permutation at each cycle boundary, at pulse rate N/d Hz. When I=0, reduces to traditional isochronous tone stimulation.
Voice
An audio layer within a BSC preset, identified by its technique type (Binaural, Martigli, Martigli-Binaural, Symmetry) and carrying the parameters that fully specify that voice. A preset contains 1–6 voices.
Voice Type
A named category of BSC audio voice (Binaural, Martigli, Martigli-Binaural, Symmetry) identifying the synthesis technique a voice realizes. Classification anchor for the SKOS voice-type vocabulary; distinct from the sstim:Voice parameter-bundle classes in Part 6.
access classification
The access classification of a governed research output (for example private, shared-research, de-identified, public).
actual duration (seconds)
Observed playback duration of a recorded session instance in whole seconds.
affected population
Conservative plain-language description of the users or contexts to which a caution is especially relevant; not a diagnostic classification.
assesses proposition
Links an evidence assessment to the single atomic bounded proposition it evaluates.
basis comparator
A comparator the basis source used, as source-level metadata.
basis comparator note
Supplementary human-readable note on a basis source's comparator. Never a substitute for the identified comparator descriptor.
basis intervention
The studied technique, protocol, intervention, or exposure profile this basis source is about (for example paced breathing rather than an auditory cue).
basis modality applicability
How sensory modality applies to this basis source: mixed, unknown/not reported, or not applicable.
basis observed effect direction
The direction of an outcome the basis source reports, as source-level metadata.
basis observed outcome
An outcome concept the basis source reports on, as source-level metadata distinct from the assessment proposition.
basis outcome note
Supplementary human-readable note on a basis source's reported outcome. Never a substitute for the identified outcome concept.
basis population note
Supplementary human-readable note on a basis source's population. Never a substitute for the identified population descriptor.
basis sensory modality
A canonical sensory modality the basis source explicitly supports. Zero modalities requires an explicit modality-applicability value.
basis source
The single source of a qualified evidence basis: a bibliographic reference, a governed research output, or an evidence search record.
basis study design
The design of the underlying studies contributing to this basis source.
basis study model
The model or stage of this basis source's findings (human, preclinical animal, in vitro, computational).
basis study population
The identified population studied by this basis source.
basis synthesis type
The synthesis level of this basis source (primary study, narrative review, systematic review, meta-analysis, literature review, tutorial).
final breathing period (s)
Optional user override for the final guided-breathing cycle period in seconds; absence means use the preset default.
initial breathing period (s)
User override for mp0. Must be >= 3.0 s for breathing guidance. Absent means use preset default.
breathing transition duration (s)
Optional duration in seconds over which guided breathing changes from its initial to final cycle period; absence means use the preset default.
caution severity rank
Ordinal rank used to sort caution severities from informational (1) through high-priority stop or avoid guidance (4).
cites reference
Links an evidence assessment to a bibliographic reference. For every bibliographic basis source the assessment carries a matching citesReference triple (ADR 0027); publication clearance is a separate concern (ADR 0029).
claim level rank
Ordinal rank 0–5 of a public claim level. C0 Descriptive=0, C1 Experiential=1, C2 Wellness=2, C3 Structure/Function=3, C4 Medical/Condition=4, C5 Quantified/Superiority=5.
comparator (deprecated)
Deprecated ADR 0027: use the identified sstim:basisComparator descriptor plus sstim:basisComparatorNote on the qualified basis. Appears only in the generated non-authoritative 0.7 compatibility view.
completion status
Values: 'completed' | 'interrupted' (>30% played) | 'abandoned' (<30% played).
composed of
Links a preset to its 1–6 voice specifications.
conflict disclosure
A conflict-of-interest disclosure record attached to an independence determination, including the explicit no-conflict-declared record.
consent basis note
The applicable consent or ethics basis for a governed research output, or an explicit not-applicable determination.
custodian
The agent that owns or is custodian of a governed research output.
defined by framework
Links a protocol to the broader framework that defines or constrains it. The domain is the general OBI protocol class, not a stimulation protocol: a capability-boundary or baseline protocol can be authored and constrained by a framework without thereby becoming stimulation (ADR 0034 §7).
defines technique
Links a sensory stimulation framework to a technique that it defines or governs.
derived from
Links a preset to its immediate predecessor preset version. The relation is directional, asymmetric, and not transitive; use repeated links to traverse a longer revision history.
display priority
Positive integer used to order caution messages within the same severity; lower numbers display first.
duration (seconds)
Intended total duration of a session specification in seconds.
evaluates subject
Links an evidence assessment to the preset or technique it evaluates. Neutral: the assessment's direction lives exclusively in hasClaimDirection. Replaces the directionally misleading supportsRelation.
evidence date (deprecated)
Deprecated ADR 0027: source publication dates stay as dct:issued on the bibliographic reference; assessment and review dates come from their generating activities. A non-authoritative 0.7 compatibility view may derive it.
evidence notes
Internal human-readable note on evidence basis and caveats. Not for user-facing display.
evidence outcome (deprecated)
Deprecated ADR 0027: use the identified sstim:basisObservedOutcome concept plus sstim:basisOutcomeNote on the qualified basis. Appears only in the generated non-authoritative 0.7 compatibility view.
focus rating
Attentional-focus rating at the report's declared collection phase, from 1 (scattered) to 5 (highly focused).
follows protocol
Links a preset to the sensory stimulation protocol whose rules or constraints it follows.
for implementation
Links a preset to the implementation whose parameter model it configures.
goal achieved
Self-reported yes/no assessment of whether the participant's stated session goal was met; it is not an objective efficacy measure.
governed source digest
A content digest of the governed research output version.
governed source version
The exact version of the governed research output this governance record covers.
has assessment scope
The single explicit scope of an assessment proposition.
has breath guide
True iff the preset contains exactly one voice with isOn=true. Governs visual breathing animation and haptic pulse delivery.
has caution severity
Assigns exactly one interface-priority severity category to a caution tag.
has caution tag
Links a preset to a safety or usage advisory flag. A preset may carry zero or more caution tags.
has claim direction
Whether the cited evidence supports, is mixed on, is inconclusive about, or refutes the asserted relation.
has delivery modality
Links an executed sensory stimulation intervention to one or more broad controlled modality categories engaged by its delivery. Use the exposure module for channel-level physical-medium and perceived-modality detail.
has effect direction (deprecated)
Deprecated ADR 0027: observed effect direction is source-level metadata; use sstim:basisObservedEffectDirection on the qualified evidence basis. Appears only in the generated non-authoritative 0.7 compatibility view.
has evidence basis
Links an evidence assessment to a qualified basis. Every assessment has at least one.
has evidence tier
Links an evidence claim to its strength classification tier, accounting for study quality and modality matching.
has independence determination
The policy-based independence determination of a review decision. External relationship never implies independence.
has intended effect
Links a preset to one or more controlled design-intent categories. The relation describes purpose and does not assert that the effect occurred.
has modality tag (deprecated)
Deprecated ADR 0027: the tag mixed sensory modality with study model and synthesis type. Authoritative data uses the orthogonal basis axes (basisSensoryModality, basisModalityApplicability, basisStudyModel, basisSynthesisType, basisIntervention). Appears only in the generated non-authoritative 0.7 compatibility view; removed no earlier than 1.0.
has proposition form
The single controlled logical form of an assessment proposition.
has public claim level
Links a preset to the highest public-facing claim level its user-facing copy uses. The legality constraint (PresetShape, ADR 0018) checks that supporting evidence meets the level's required tier.
has report phase
Identifies the single collection phase of a session-associated self-report.
has review decision
The outcome of a review decision: confirm, request revision, or reject.
has review status (deprecated)
Deprecated ADR 0027: review state is derived from immutable EvidenceReviewDecision records, not stored as a mutable status. A non-authoritative 0.7 compatibility view may derive it; it is excluded from validation and authorization.
has reviewer relationship
The reviewer's relationship to the assessed work: self, same organization, external, or unknown.
has self-report
Links a session instance to zero or more consent-governed self-reports collected at explicit phases. Multiple reports support pre/post and follow-up observations without overwriting prior data.
has source governance record
Links a governed research output to its single immutable source-governance record.
has stimulus temporal structure
Links a stimulation technique to one or more controlled descriptions of its temporal organization, such as periodic, quasi-periodic, aperiodic, adaptive, continuous, pulsed, or scheduled administration.
Hz maximum
Upper bound (inclusive) of the frequency band in Hz.
Hz minimum
Lower bound (inclusive) of the frequency band in Hz.
implements framework
Links an implementation to the framework it realizes.
implements protocol
Links an implementation to a protocol it realizes.
in group
Links a preset to its group classification. Each preset belongs to exactly one group.
incorporates technique
Links a sensory stimulation framework to a pre-existing, vendor-neutral technique that it uses but did not originate. Distinct from sstim:definesTechnique, which is reserved for techniques the framework itself defines or governs; a framework that merely applies binaural beats or photic driving incorporates them rather than defining them.
independence policy
The named policy whose criteria an independence determination applied. Required for independent and not-independent determinations.
intended neural phenomenon
Links a stimulation process, technique, protocol, or intervention to the functional neural phenomenon it is intended to affect. Records target intention, not an observed result.
intended neural system
Links a stimulation process, technique, protocol, or intervention to the distributed neural system it is intended to engage. Independent of the entry route: targeting the auditory system does not imply entering through it.
intended neural target site
Links a stimulation process, technique, protocol, or intervention to the broad nervous-system site it is intended to engage. Records target intention, never delivered dose or observed effect.
master volume
Normalized master output gain requested by the session specification, from 0 (silent) to 1 (implementation maximum); not a calibrated sound-pressure level.
mechanism neural access route
Tags a proposed mechanism with the neural access route it invokes. Hypothesis metadata: it never reclassifies the technique that proposes the mechanism.
mechanism neural phenomenon
Tags a proposed mechanism with the functional neural phenomenon it invokes. Hypothesis metadata.
mechanism neural system
Tags a proposed mechanism with the distributed neural system it invokes. Hypothesis metadata.
mechanism neural target site
Tags a proposed mechanism with the neural site it invokes. Hypothesis metadata, distinct from a technique's intended target and from an evaluated outcome.
modified at
Timestamp attached to a mutable annotation record when it was last edited. Ontology and evidence resources should use dct:modified and PROV-O for publication provenance.
modified by
Identifier attached to a mutable annotation record for the actor that last edited it. Published RDF should use prov:wasAttributedTo for agent provenance.
neural access route
Links a stimulation process, technique, protocol, intervention, or stimulus channel to the biological route through which its neural target is intended to be engaged. In a multi-channel exposure profile the channel-level binding is authoritative and the coarse value must be backed by it.
outcome neural access route
Tags an evidence outcome concept with the neural access route the finding is about. This is how a demonstrated route that competes with a technique's declared intended route is recorded without altering that declaration.
outcome neural phenomenon
Tags an evidence outcome concept with the functional neural phenomenon the finding is about. This is the join that makes evidence about neural effects queryable across techniques and routes.
outcome neural system
Tags an evidence outcome concept with the distributed neural system the finding is about.
outcome neural target site
Tags an evidence outcome concept with the neural site the finding is about, which may differ from the intended target site of the technique assessed.
permitted use scope
The permitted use and release scope of a governed research output as evidence.
platform deliverable
Whether this modality is deliverable via standard consumer digital platforms without dedicated hardware.
preset version
Semantic version string (X.Y.Z) of this preset.
primary affect
Affect rating at the report's declared collection phase, from 1 (very negative) to 5 (very positive).
proposed mechanism
Links a stimulation technique to a controlled mechanism category proposed to explain a response. The relation records a hypothesis or evidence interpretation, not proof of causation.
proposition digest
An immutable content digest identifying the exact proposition when text alone is insufficient.
proposition outcome
The single identified outcome concept an assessment proposition is about.
proposition subject
The single subject of an assessment proposition; must match the assessment's evaluatesSubject value.
proposition text
The exact language-tagged text of an atomic assessment proposition.
recommended action
Plain-language action an interface should present when a caution applies, such as reduce intensity, disable a channel, stop, or avoid the context.
reference key
Short uppercase key (e.g. 'INGENDOH_2023') matching citation keys in preset techDesc fields.
references preset
Links a session specification to the preset it executes.
requires evidence tier rank
Minimum sstim:tierRank of supporting evidence required to assert at this claim level on a public surface. 0 = no evidence required (descriptive/experiential/wellness). A value of 7 is an intentional sentinel above the maximum tier (6): no evidence can satisfy it, i.e. the level is never publicly assertable (C4 medical/condition). PROVISIONAL policy mapping — reconcile with the BioSynCare Reference publicClaimLevel/clinicalScope enum and a qualified EU MDR adviser before launch.
review rubric
The immutable rubric or policy revision a review decision was made under.
reviewed by (deprecated)
Deprecated ADR 0027: reviewer identity and role live on the review activity's prov:qualifiedAssociation as agent IRIs, not name literals. A non-authoritative 0.7 compatibility view may derive it.
reviews assessment
The single assessment revision an evidence review decision is about; must equal the revision its generating review activity used.
scope comparator
The identified comparison condition of the proposition scope, or an explicit marker.
scope intervention or context
The identified intervention, technique, protocol, context, or exposure profile the proposition scope covers, or an explicit marker.
scope population or model
A named population descriptor or study model of the proposition scope, or an explicit marker.
scope sensory modality
A named sensory modality of the proposition scope, or an explicit unknown / not-reported / not-applicable marker.
search coverage end
The latest date the search covered; the as-of date of a scoped search finding.
search coverage start
The earliest publication date the search covered, when bounded.
search digest
A content digest of the search record's result set or export.
search eligibility criteria
The eligibility criteria applied to search results.
search query
The exact query string executed by an evidence search.
search result count
The number of results the executed search returned.
search source
A database or source searched, one value per source.
sleepiness
Sleepiness rating at the report's declared collection phase, from 1 (alert) to 5 (very drowsy).
stimulation delivery approach
Links a stimulation process, technique, protocol, or intervention to a coarse operational description of how the input is introduced or the interface positioned. Values are non-exclusive and may be combined.
study population (deprecated)
Deprecated ADR 0027: use the identified sstim:basisStudyPopulation descriptor plus sstim:basisPopulationNote on the qualified basis. Appears only in the generated non-authoritative 0.7 compatibility view.
subjective session quality
Subjective quality rating for the associated session, normally collected after delivery, from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).
supports relation (deprecated)
Deprecated ADR 0027: the property name encodes a supporting direction the claim may not have. Use sstim:evaluatesSubject; direction lives exclusively in hasClaimDirection. Retained as a materialized compatibility alias during 0.7.x; removed no earlier than 1.0.
Deprecated 2026-07-13 in favour of sstim:evaluatesSubject (ADR 0027); original range decision from ADR 0013 is preserved on the replacement.
targets frequency band
Links a preset to 1–2 target frequency bands. First entry is the primary band.
technique modality
Coarse legacy/convenience relation linking a sensory stimulation technique to broad sensory modality tags. Use the SSTIM exposure module when physical delivery medium, perceived modality, device capability, body placement, experiment context, or knowledge status must be represented separately.
Kept unchanged for compatibility with SSTIM 0.3.0 consumers. New detailed modeling should use sstim-exposure.ttl terms such as sstim-ex:deliveryMedium, sstim-ex:perceivedModality, and sstim-ex:requiresDeviceCapability.
tier rank
Ordinal rank 1–6 for SPARQL ORDER BY. Speculative=1, Anecdotal=2, Preliminary=3, Moderate=4, Strong=5, Established=6.
trigger condition
Machine-readable-content companion text describing the stimulus feature, context, or user state that activates a caution.
uses specification
Links a recorded session execution to the single immutable session specification it realizes.
uses technique
Links a stimulation protocol to a technique used by the protocol. Naming a method does not make the protocol sensory, nor imply that any framework originated or incorporates the technique.