Efficiency of regulatory processes in first-year students and physiological, emotional and cognitive strain during the pandemic

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33910/2687-0223-2021-3-2-101-108

Keywords:

pandemic, heart rate, parasympathetic influences, central and sympathetic influences, inhibitory processes, reward, punishment, go/go task, go/no-go task, orthostasis

Abstract

The research aimed to compare the quality of inhibitory control (go/no-go tasks) and the effectiveness of regulatory processes in orthostasis and in recalling the reward and punishment contexts from a person’s childhood. The study involved 16 volunteers. We used the indicators of functional state (according to A. Riftine, orthostasis), inhibitory control, the HF/LF ratio of the heart rate spectrum in emotional states of various valence (recalling childhood situations of reward and punishment in the family) to compare the dynamics of parasympathetic influences on heart rate against central and sympathetic influences. The interrelation between the functional state of a person’s organism (determined by the integral indicators in orthostasis) and the effectiveness of inhibitory control is complex and nonlinear. We identified the boundary below which the capabilities of functional states cannot provide high efficiency of inhibitory processes. The range of HF/LF ratios when recalling punishments is three times smaller than that when recalling rewards, which means a more rigid heart rate in the first case. The effectiveness of inhibitory control in the go/no-go tasks and the regulation of heart rate in emotional states of various valence are also complex and nonlinear. For these emotional states, three ranges of HF/LF indicators are described. They correspond to the low efficiency of inhibitory processes in the go/no-go tasks. We also explored three ranges of HF/LF indicators. They correspond to the efficiency of inhibition in the go/no-go tasks at sample average or higher values.

References

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Published

2021-08-23

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