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Influence of respiratory activity on the cardiac response pattern to mental effort

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 1998

Monika Althaus ,
Lambertus J. M. Mulder ,
Gijsbertus Mulder ,
Arie M. van Roon  and
Ruud B. Minderaa
Monika Althaus
Affiliation:
University Center of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Groningen, The Netherlands
Lambertus J. M. Mulder
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental and Work Psychology, Groningen, The Netherlands
Gijsbertus Mulder
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental and Work Psychology, Groningen, The Netherlands
Arie M. van Roon
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental and Work Psychology, Groningen, The Netherlands
Ruud B. Minderaa
Affiliation:
University Center of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Groningen, The Netherlands
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Abstract

A group of 32 healthy adult volunteers completed three blocks of a reaction time task that varied in the degree of controlled processing load. A rest period preceded each of the task blocks. The task blocks were presented in the order of either increasing or decreasing cognitive load. For each of the six periods, mean values and spectral measures of heart rate and respiration variability were calculated. The spectral measures were obtained for three different frequency bands. Differences between the cardiac measures of the task and preceding rest periods were compared with respect to differences in task load and the order of task presentation. All comparisons were carried out while adjusting for respiratory variability in the corresponding frequency band. The frequency band in which task load-related changes in heart rate variability became manifest appeared to be dependent on the individual's breathing pattern.

Keywords

Heart rate variabilityRespiratory activitySpectral analysisMental effort
Type
Research Article
Information
Psychophysiology , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , July 1998 , pp. 420 - 430
Copyright
© 1998 Society for Psychophysiological Research

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Footnotes

Address reprint requests to: Monika Althaus, University Center of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hanzeplein 1, 9713 GZ, Groningen, The Netherlands. E-mail: m.althaus@med.rug.nl.