PECULIARITIES OF REGULATION OF HEART RATE VARIABILITY IN DIFFERENT VARIANTS OF COGNITIVE LOAD IN STUDENTS

With different variants of cognitive load, the corresponding regions of the brain are activated, which is manifested by peculiarities of heart rate variability (HRV). Cognitive load (semantic fluency) contributes to a decrease in the activity of the Total Power (TP) integral indicator in the group as a whole. The use of the autonomic balance index (ABI), which is an objective indicator of the autonomic mechanisms of HRV regulation, reveals that this load is most sensitive for young men, who have more vulnerable parasympathetic NS, while girls do not have such a reaction. When performing the semantic fluency test under conditions of cognitive load (reverse counting), an increase in the TP index was noted. When comparing ABI between groups of boys and girls before the exercise, a significantly higher ABI in girls is noted, that is initially the contribution of the parasympathetic NS to the regulation of HRV is of predominant importance. After the exercise, the ABI in girls decreases which indicate the predominant role of the sympathetic NS as a mechanism for regulating the HRV in response to cognitive load — the ability to count. The development of an imbalance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic NS activity under conditions of cognitive load reveals the most vulnerable regulatory circuits, which may become the basis of the corresponding pathological process in the future.