Background. An urgent task of age-related physiology is to study the functional state of the body of school-age children in cognitive activity due to the large academic load and the use of information and computer technologies in the educational process to identify the characteristics of the reactivity of the body of students when performing cognitive load of various types, including on electronic devices, is necessary for the organization of the school educational environment.The aim. To assess the nature of vegetative, cardiovascular and hormonal reactivity in cognitive load of various types in school-age children.Materials and methods. By methods of heart rate variability analysis, electrocardiography, tonometry and enzyme immunoassay of cortisol in saliva, 117 school-age children were examined while performing cognitive load of various types.Results. There is a change in heart rate variability indicators while performing cognitive load. Oral counting causes an increase in sympathetic influences on the heart rate with a decrease in parasympathetic activity, as well as a shift in the vagosympathetic balance. Operation on the electronic devices causes a decrease in the total power density of the spectrum and an increase in the index of low-frequency and highfrequency vibrations ratio due to a decrease in parasympathetic activity. Two types of reaction were revealed: type I – an increase in the concentration of cortisol in saliva, an increase in sympathetic effects on Heart rate with a simultaneous decrease in parasympathetic activity (counting), a decrease in the total power of the spectrum density (laptop), a decrease in parasympathetic activity (tablet). Type II – a decrease in hormone levels and a decrease in very low-frequency vibrations and parasympathetic activity, regardless of the type of load presentedConclusion. The results obtained indicate that the nature of the reactivity of heart rate indicators and the stress hormone cortisol in students depends not so much on which electronic device it is performed on, but on the type of cognitive load.

No abstract

No abstract

Introduction. The article examines the problem of adaptive response to cognitive activity in primary schoolchildren with different individual psychological characteristics. The objective of the research is to study the response of the autonomic nervous, cardiovascular and endocrine systems to cognitive load in primary school children with different levels of anxiety and neuroticism. Materials and Methods. The research sample consisted of 38 primary schoolchildren. The data for this study were collected using the following methods: spectral and temporal analysis of heart rate variability, electrocardiography, bipolar reoencephalography, tonometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent determination of cortisol in saliva. The levels of anxiety were identified using the CMAS scale adapted by A.M. Prikhozhan. In order to assess the level of neuroticism, the authors applied the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The cognitive load involved working with digital Schulte tables. Results. The authors found that the type and intensity of the reaction of the autonomic nervous, cardiovascular and endocrine systems in primary schoolchildren depend on personal characteristics (the level of anxiety and neuroticism). The study revealed that children with medium anxiety and low neuroticism levels showed the most beneficial organism response to cognitive load. The most pronounced and generalized reaction of the organism was indicated among schoolchildren with high levels of anxiety and medium levels of neuroticism. It was revealed that the hyperactivity of the autonomic nervous, cardiovascular and endocrine systems in primary schoolchildren with high levels of anxiety and neuroticism was determined by the initially high level of the studied indicators. Conclusions. The response of the autonomic nervous, cardiovascular and endocrine systems to cognitive load is stressful for primary schoolchildren with increased and high levels of anxiety and neuroticism. In this regard, the authors emphasize the need for psychological and teaching interventions aimed at measuring and treating anxiety disorders in primary school children.

Adaptation of children’s body to cognitive activity is an important issue for developmental physiology. The purpose of this study was to assess the nature of short-term adaptation of the cardiovascular and endocrine systems of primary school children to cognitive load when performing a test on a laptop. Materials and methods. Using spectral and temporal analysis of heart rate variability, electrocardiography, bipolar rheoencephalography, tonometry, and enzyme immunoassay to determine cortisol concentrations in saliva, we examined 32 primary school children (10–11 years old) performing a cognitive task (Anfimov’s tables) on a laptop. The cardiovascular system parameters were assessed before and during the test, the saliva was collected before and after the cognitive load. Results. In primary school children, the process of short-term adaptation of the cardiovascular and autonomic nervous systems to cognitive load was going favourably, without straining the regulation mechanisms, and was accompanied by an increase in sympathetic influences and heart rate, a decrease in the RR interval, and an increase in the tone of medium and small vessels in the occipital regions of the brain without changes in the indicators characterizing blood flow intensity. Two types of reaction of the endocrine system to cognitive load were revealed: 1) an increase in cortisol concentration in the saliva, observed in 40 % of children; 2) a decrease in the level of cortisol, characteristic of the majority of the examined schoolchildren. The obtained results showed that short-term adaptation of heart rate and haemodynamic parameters to cognitive load in primary school children is a problem-free process. A distinctive feature of children of this age is the manifestation of a proactive response of the endocrine system to the effects of environmental factors, which manifested itself in an increase in the level of the stress hormone cortisol before cognitive load.