To examine the effects of mental load tasks on cardiovascular responses, three types of star maze (MT1 : normal mouse tracking, MT2 : up-down and right-left reversed mouse tracking, and MT3 : right-left only reversed mouse tracking), and a mental arithmetic were carried out using computer display and mouse. It was expected that these tasks would require different coping responses of twelve healthy subject. Heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and respiratory rate were measured during rest period (rest trial), 3 types of mouse tracking trials, and a mental arithmetic trial. Slower heart rate, higher blood pressure, faster respiration rate, and larger power spectrum of respiratory component were clearly observed in mouse tasks. On the other hand, higher blood pressure, faster respiration rate, and larger power of heart rate variability of about 0.1Hz were demonstrated in the arithmetic task. These response patterns indicated that subjects responded to the mouse tracking task using parasympathetic dominant passive-coping, and to the mental arithmetic task using sympathetic dominant active-coping. Although time and errors for drawing stars were explicitly different (MT1 < MT2 < MT3), there was no significant autonomic difference among the tracking tasks.
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