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Evaluation of Myocardial and Peripheral Vascular Responses During Reaction Time, Mental Arithmetic, and Cold Pressor Tasks
Author(s) -
Allen Michael T.,
Obrist Paul A.,
Sherwood Andrew,
Growell Michael D.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1987.tb00345.x
Subject(s) - cold pressor test , impedance cardiography , mental arithmetic , forearm , heart rate , cardiac output , blood flow , cardiology , plethysmograph , stroke volume , psychology , cerebral blood flow , hemodynamics , blood pressure , anesthesia , medicine , surgery
ABSTRACT The primary purpose of this study was to examine the covariation of cardiac output and forearm blood flow during reaction time, mental arithmetic, and cold pressor tasks. Cardiac output was indexed using impedance cardiography, whereas impedance venous occlusion plethysmography was used lo index forearm blood flow. Cardiac output increased significantly over resting values in all three tasks, hut the pattern of these increases differed. Large heart rate increases during mental arithmetic and cold pressor tasks more than offset stroke volume decreases; the increases in the reaction time task were due to relatively smaller heart rate increases with stroke volume augmentation. For forearm blood flow, all task levels were higher than resting levels, but only mental arithmetic levels were statistically higher. The correlation between cardiac output and forearm blood flow change was significant for the reaction time task, but not for the mental arithmetic or cold pressor tasks.