Key result
Threat of shock during an active coping task diminished cardiac parasympathetic activity (indexed by RSA) and elevated heart rate compared to rest and non-threat conditions.
Why the study?
Does an active coping task with threat of shock alter parasympathetic cardiac control (measured by RSA) compared to a task without threat in subjects?
Does an active coping task with threat of shock alter parasympathetic cardiac control (measured by RSA) compared to a task without threat in subjects?
The study demonstrates that stress-related heart rate increases are significantly driven by parasympathetic withdrawal, which can be reliably indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia.
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Supports RSA indexing of parasympathetic withdrawal in acute stress; hypothesis-generating and leaves open clinical translation.
Grossman et al. (1987) studied this question. Threat of shock during a video game task vs. Video game without threat of shock and resting baseline was evaluated on Heart rate (HR) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Threat of shock during an active coping task diminished cardiac parasympathetic activity (indexed by RSA) and elevated heart rate compared to rest and non-threat conditions.