Key result
Positive emotion inducement before a mental task significantly lowered mean arterial pressure and total peripheral resistance during the post-task relaxation period compared to a control condition.
Why the study?
Does positive emotion inducement before mental work reduce cardiovascular responses in healthy individuals?
RCT (n=17)
Counterbalanced
No
Does positive emotion inducement before mental work reduce cardiovascular responses in healthy individuals?
p-value: p=<0.05
Inducing positive emotion before mental work beneficially modulates and accelerates the recovery of cardiovascular responses, suggesting a potential strategy for managing occupational stress.
May accelerate cardiovascular recovery after mental tasks in healthy adults; hypothesis-generating and requires validation before any practice implications.
BACKGROUND: Positive emotion is considered as an important factor related to health-relevant biological processes, including cardiovascular responses. To explore the possibility of using positive emotion as a tool to manage cardiovascular response of white-collar workers, we examined the influence on cardiovascular response of positive emotion inducement before a mental work. METHOD: Seventeen healthy males participated and performed a 10-min, PC-based Stroop color word task as their mental work. Before the task, 60 pleasant pictures chosen from the International Affective Picture System were presented in a random order under a positive emotion inducement condition while a gray screen was presented under a control condition. A 30-min relaxation period after completing the task was provided to examine the aftereffects of positive emotion inducement. Throughout these periods, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial blood pressure, heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, and total peripheral resistance were measured continuously. RESULTS: Blood pressure and total peripheral resistance were lower during the picture presentation period under the positive emotion inducement period compared to the control condition. All indices did not differ during the color word task period. During the relaxation period after the task, however, blood pressure and total peripheral resistance were lower under the positive emotion inducement condition compared to the control condition. CONCLUSION: Positive emotion inducement before a mental work beneficially modulates cardiovascular responses, suggesting that positive emotion inducement may be a useful tool to manage the cardiovascular response to mental work.
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Liu et al. (2016) conducted an RCT in Healthy (n=17). Positive emotion inducement (pleasant pictures) vs. Gray screen (control condition) was evaluated on Mean arterial pressure (MAP) during the relaxation period after mental work (p=<0.05). Positive emotion inducement before a mental task significantly lowered mean arterial pressure and total peripheral resistance during the post-task relaxation period compared to a control condition.
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