Cardiovascular System Pt 2 Flashcards
Performance and Heart Activity
Nonstrenuous activity (ex: simple RT (reaction time))
No relationship between HR and RT
Complex motor activity
As proficiency increases,
HR decreases
HR increase
Goes beyond the metabolic requirement
Orienting response
HR decreases
Defensive response
HR increases
Subjects who feared spiders vs Control subjects (2)
HR increases for those who feared compared to controls
No difference between groups for neutral stimuli
HR and Affective Processes
Hans Selye
Stress: nonspecific body response to any demand for change
Under threat of shock (2)
Phasic
Tonic
Phasic HR decreases a few seconds before the shock
BUT Tonic HR increases over the course of a few minutes
Tasks with varying levels of difficulty
HR and stress ratings increase as a function of task
Mental Arithmetic
Mirror Drawing- moderate to high HR
Emotional response
Negative emotions
Anger, fear, disgust, sadness
Positive emotions
Happiness and surprise
In general, larger increases in HR to
Anger, fear, and sadness
HR activity lasts longer after
Negative than positive emotions
(Possibly due to rumination)
In real life situations
Negative emotions elicit
greater cardiovascular reactivity (CVR)
Emotional Response diagram
Brain
Autonomic nervous system
Stress ➡️ Sympathetic NS (Survival) ➡️ HRV decrease (LT: chronic stress and illness)
Rest ➡️ Parasympathetic NS (Growth and Repair) ➡️ HRV increase (LT: increased resilience and performance)
Heart rate variability
Higher HRV (2)
Less physiologically stressed
Ready to perform
Lower HRV (2)
More physiologically stressed
Tiredness
CVR, Personality and Social Factors
Personality type (2)
Type A- Impatient, competitive, hostile
Type B- Relaxed, little aggressive drive, not in a hurry
In general
Type A
Higher HR during task performance BUT when tasks involve competition, harassment, or challenge NOT during tasks such as CPT (continuous performance test- press button)
Study
Type As told that HR reduction was a rare ability
When told that it was a common ability
Type As decreased more than Type Bs
Type As decreased less than Type Bs
Have also been linked to CVR
Hostility and anger
Subjects high on hostility have
Higher HR and take longer to return to baseline
Social factors (combatting loneliness)
Social support
Linked to lower CVR even under long term stress
One study on family caregivers (avg of 8 years of care) of Alz patients
Those with high social support showed lower CVR compared to those low in social support
College age students
Those instructed to recruit a friend to accompany them during an experiment (mental arithmetic and concept formation) showed lower CVR than those who went alone
