Reduced baroreflex cardiac sensitivity predicts increased cognitive performance

Abstract

This study evaluated the relationship between baroreceptor reflex sensitivity and cognitive performance. Twenty normal subjects performed the Uchida-Kraepelin test, a serial arithmetic task. Baroreceptor reflex sensitivity during a 5-min Uchida-Kraepelin test was assessed in minute periods by spectral analysis using the maximum-entropy method. During the task, baroreceptor reflex sensitivity was significantly reduced. There was an inverse between-subjects association between baroreceptor reflex sensitivity and the level of performance (number of additions completed) both at different time periods of the Uchida-Kraepelin test and during the whole task (r=-.51). This finding supports the existence of a pathway mediating mutual cardiovascular-central nervous system influences through the baroreceptors, establishing an essential mechanism facilitating adaptive reactions to stressful conditions.

Physical training and the dynamics of the cardiac baroreflex: A comparison when blood pressure rises and falls

“…With respect to the response to stress in the "down" sequences, both groups showed a significant decrease in BRS. Several studies using the usual global BRS measure (average of slopes of all sequences, regardless of their direction) have previously found a decrease in BRS during mental stress, including arithmetic tasks (e.g., Reyes del Paso et al, 1996Steptoe and Sawada 1989;Yasumasu et al, 2006). The results of this study suggest that this decrease is reduced for the "up" sequences in sedentary individuals.…”

“…The homeostatic influence of the baroreflex is of crucial importance to cardiovascular flexibility and its inhibition during challenging situations is an integral part of the autonomic response to stressful conditions, supporting adaptive reactions in the organism-environment interactions Yasumasu et al, 2006). The sedentary group showed a blunted BRS-"up" sequences response to mental challenge, thus suggesting a lack of adaptive response in the autonomic adjustment to the stressor.…”

Relationship between baroreceptor cardiac reflex sensitivity and pain experience in normotensive individuals

“…The baroreceptor system is involved in the parasympathetic control of cardiac activity, with the sensitivity of the baroreceptor reflex, expressed as change in heart period per unit blood pressure change, being closely related to vagal tone (Eckberg and Sleight, 1992;Reyes del Paso et al, 1996). Baroreceptor reflex sensitivity varies with central nervous and psychological states such as mental stress (Steptoe and Sawada, 1989;Reyes del Paso et al, 1996), relaxation (Steptoe and Sawada, 1989;Reyes del Paso et al, 2006) and specific cognitive-attentional processes (Reyes del Paso et al, 2004;Yasumasu et al, 2006).…”

Factors Associated with Baroreflex Sensitivity: Association with Morning Blood Pressure

“…The magnitude of power was integrated in the lowfrequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) band ranging between Mayer wave-related (0.04-0.15 Hz) and respiratoryrelated frequencies (0.15-0.40 Hz), respectively ( 11 ). BRS was estimated at the most stable and clear recording of R-R and SBP as the gain of the transfer function in the baroreflex arc using power spectral analysis: the square root of the ratio of power of pulse interval variability to the power of SBP variability in the LF band ( 9 ).…”