Key result
Cues during systole elicit greater alerting effects than diastole but do not impact executive control.
Why the study?
Empirical evidence for cardiac phase effects in alerting has been missing, and studies on executive control have shown mixed results.
Does stimulus or cue presentation during systole compared to diastole affect alerting and executive control?
Population
Participants across two experiments (Experiment 1, n = 48; Experiment 2, n = 45)
Comparison
Stimulus or cue presentation during systole vs diastole
Design
Two experimental studies
Authors
Loading...
May enhance alerting to systolic cues; leaves open cardiac phase effects on attention in clinical populations.
Does stimulus or cue presentation during systole compared to diastole affect alerting and executive control?
Phasic cardiac fluctuations selectively enhance the immediate alerting response to external cues during systole, but do not affect subsequent executive control.
Arslanova et al. (2025) studied this question. Stimulus or cue presentation during systole vs. Stimulus or cue presentation during diastole was evaluated on Alerting and executive control efficiency. Presenting an external cue during systole elicited a more pronounced alerting effect than during diastole, but cardiac phase had no impact on executive control.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: