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Does mental arithmetic before head up tilt have an effect on the orthostatic cardiovascular and hormonal responses?

  • Goswami, Nandu Institute of Physiology, Center of Physiological Medicine, Medical University Graz, Austria
  • Lackner, Helmut Karl Institute of Adaptive and Spaceflight Physiology, Graz, Austria
  • Papousek, Ilona Department of Psychology, Karl Franzens University, Graz, Austria
  • Montani, Jean-Pierre Department of Medicine/Physiology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Jezova, Daniela Institute of Experimental Physiology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
  • Hinghofer-Szalkay, Helmut G. Institute of Physiology, Center of Physiological Medicine, Medical University Graz, Austria - Institute of Adaptive and Spaceflight Physiology, Graz, Austria
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    07.11.2009
Published in:
  • Acta Astronautica. - 2011, vol. 68, no. 9-10, p. 1589-1594
Mental arithmetic
State-trait anxiety inventory
Cardiovascular reactivity
Heart rate
salivary hormones
English Passive head up tilt (HUT) and mental arithmetic (MA) are commonly used for providing mental and orthostatic challenges, respectively. In animal experiments, even a single exposure to a stressor has been shown to modify the response to subsequent stress stimulus. We investigated whether MA applied before HUT elicits synergistic responses in orthostatic heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO), heart rate variability and arterial blood pressure. The 15 healthy young males were subjected to two randomized protocols: (a) HUT and (b) HUT preceded by MA, with sessions randomized and ≥2 weeks apart. Beat to beat continuous hemodynamic variables were measured and saliva samples taken for hormonal assay. HUT alone increased HR from 59±7 (baseline) to 80±10 bpm (mean±SD) and mean blood pressure (MBP) from 88±10 to 91±14 mmHg. HUT results after MA were not different from those with HUT alone. The activity of alpha amylase showed differences during the experiments irrespective of the protocols. We conclude that mental challenge does not affect orthostatic cardiovascular responses when applied before; the timing of mental loading seems to be critical if it is intended to alter cardiovascular responses to upright standing.
Faculty
Faculté des sciences et de médecine
Department
Département de Médecine
Language
  • English
Classification
Biological sciences
License
License undefined
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Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/302047
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