Abstract
Our previous studies (part 5) on autonomic nervous balance and TAF revealed that the changes in TAF-L were parallel to the changes in autonomic nervous function tests such as the mecholyl test, cholinesterase activity and Kestner's reaction. This relationship was reexamined by the present experiment in which 21 examinees were exposed to a disagreeable noise and tested with the TAF test, mecholyl test and the cold pressure test (CPT). Swing degree in CPT was computed by the same procedure as that in mecholyl test, though the initial reactions are quite opposite: the rise of the blood pressure in CPT in contrast to the decrease of it in mecholyl test.
The results of this study indicated that:
(1) Exposure to noise brought about significant changes between the pre- and the post-exposure values in each of TAF-L, mecholyl test-swing degree and CPT-swing degree.
(2) The significant correlation between TAF-L and the swing degree in mecholyl test has been reconfirmed.
(3) Swing degree in CPT showed a significant increase from 1.2 for the pre-exposure to 1.5 for the post exposure average. The changes significantly correlated with TAF-L.
(4) Swing degree in CPT also correlated significantly with that in mecholyl test.
The relationship between TAF, mecholyl test and CPT in individual patterns are shown in the figure. Swing degree in mecholyl test has been applied to CPT for the first time by our present study. These observations suggested that the decrease in TAF-L under the exposure to noise has a certain correlation with the increase of homeostatic defence in the hypothalamus, and that the swing degree in CPT, which is less reactive on the examinee than the mecholyl test, can positively be used for testing the autonomic nervous function with the same significance as the mecholyl test.
