Similarities and differences in carotid artery, hemodynamic, and autonomic reactivity induced by mental stress or cold in adults: A randomized crossover study

FIGURE 1. Experimental design. Arterial pressure (AP); cardiac intervals (RRi); cold pressor test (CPT); heart rate (HR); Stroop color‐word test (Stroop).

FIGURE 2. Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) flow diagram for crossover trials. Cold pressor test (CPT); Stroop color‐word test (Stroop). Carotid artery reactivity (CAR); Heart rate variability (HRV).

FIGURE 3. Carotid artery reactivity (CAR) to the Stroop color‐word test (Stroop) and cold pressor test (CPT). Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation. Paired Student's t‐test (panel A) and two‐way repeated‐measures ANOVA with Sidak's post‐hoc test (panel B); p < 0.05; asignificant vs. –30s (baseline); bsignificant vs. Stroop; n = 20. The gray highlight in panel B represents the period in which participants performed the Stroop or CPT.

FIGURE 4. Reactivity of (A) systolic (SAP), (B) diastolic (DAP), and (C) mean (MAP) arterial pressure, and (D) heart rate (HR) to the Stroop color‐word test (Stroop) and cold pressor test (CPT). Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation. ANOVA for repeated measures followed by Sidak's post‐hoc test; p < 0.05; asignificant vs. rest (0′); bsignificant vs. Stroop; n = 20. The gray highlight in the panels represents the period in which the participants performed the Stroop or CPT.

FIGURE 5. Reactivity of (A) Standard deviation of NN intervals (SDNN); (B) Root mean square of the sum of the squared difference between adjacent R‐R intervals (RMSSD), and (C) High frequency (HF) to the Stroop color‐word test (Stroop) and cold pressor test (CPT). Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation. ANOVA for repeated measures followed by Sidak's post‐hoc test; p < 0.05; asignificant vs. rest (0′); bsignificant vs. Stroop; n = 18. The gray highlight in the panels represents the period in which the participants performed the Stroop or CPT.