Effects of task difficulty and invested mental effort on peripheral vasoconstriction

• Published in: Psychophysiology Vol. 41; no. 5; pp. 789 - 798
• Main Authors: Iani, Cristina, Gopher, Daniel, Lavie, Peretz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing 01.09.2004; Blackwell
• Subjects: Adult; Animal; Arteries - physiology; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition - physiology; Cognition. Intelligence; Fingers - blood supply; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Learning. Memory; Male; Memory; Mental effort; Mental Processes - physiology; Miscellaneous; Muscle Tonus - physiology; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular - physiology; Peripheral arterial tone; Plethysmography; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Pulse variability; Reasoning. Problem solving; Regional Blood Flow - physiology; Sympathetic activation; Vasoconstriction - physiology; Task difficulty; Human; Heart rate; Visual stimulus; Autonomic nervous system; Memory; Information processing; Problem solving; Cognition; Experimental study; Sympathetic nervous system; Plethysmography
• ISSN: 0048-5772; 1469-8986; 1540-5958
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2004.00200.x

We ran two experiments to investigate whether peripheral arterial tone reflects changes in mental effort. Finger pulse wave amplitude, interpulse interval, and pulse variability in the mid‐ and high‐frequency bands were recorded by means of a newly developed finger plethysmograph during both rest and cognitive performance. Using a modified version of the Sternberg memory task, we selectively manipulated either the difficulty of the task (Experiment 1) or the subjects' level of engagement in the task (Experiment 2). We found a significant difference in finger pulse wave amplitude between rest and task periods, suggesting that the measure reflects changes in sympathetic activity due to task engagement. In addition, our results suggest that reduced pulse wave amplitude, signaling vasoconstriction, occurs when subjects are investing effort.