Interactive Effects of Mental and Physical Stress on Cardiovascular Control
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Abstract
Westerholm, Erin C., Interactive Effects of Mental and Physical Stress on Cardiovascular Control. Master of Science (Biomedical Sciences, Integrative Physiology), August, 1998, 42 pp., 1 table, 13 figures, 35 references. Mental task and exercise often occur together. Physiological responses to each of these stressors have been studied independently, yet the interactive effects of these stressors are unknown. Hypothesis: Combined mental and physical stress will produce a synergistic interaction. Methods: Twelve healthy subjects were studied by measuring cardiovascular responses to five minutes of static left handgrip alone (25-35% of maximal handgrip strength), mental arithmetic alone, and combined stimuli in random order. Sympathetic nerve activity (SNA, microneurography), mean arterial blood pressure (MAP, Finapres), heart rate (HR, ECG), and vascular resistance (Doppler) were measured. Results: Physical and combined stressors significantly changed SNA, MAP, HR, and FVR. SNA responses to handgrip and the combined stimuli exceeded responses to mental arithmetic alone (p [less than] 0.05), yet no significant difference existed between responses to handgrip alone and the combined stimuli (p=0.33). The three stimuli increased heart rate similarity (p [less than] 0.0006). Conclusion: The data refuted the hypothesis: mental task did not synergistically interact or even add to the stress response elicited by handgrip exercise. Thus these data suggest that mental task and static exercise interact in a redundant manner.
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Keywords
Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms
Cardiovascular System
Circulatory and Respiratory Physiology
Exercise Science
Kinesiology
Life Sciences
Medical Physiology
Medical Sciences
Medicine and Health Sciences
Mental and Social Health
Neuroscience and Neurobiology
Physiology
Psychiatry and Psychology
Psychology of Movement
Interactive effects
mental stress
physical stress
exercise
physiological responses
cardiovascular responses
static left handgrip
mental arithmetic
sympathetic nerve activity
SNA
microneurography
heart rate
MPA
mean arterial blood pressure
vascular resistance