Evaluating the Effects of Different Cognitive Tasks on Autonomic Nervous System Responses: Implementation of a High‐Precision, Low‐Cost Complementary Method

• Published in: Brain and behavior Vol. 14; no. 10; pp. e70089 - n/a
• Main Authors: Ahmadi, Nazli Karimi, Ozgur, Sezgi Firat, Kiziltan, Erhan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-10-2024; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Adult; autonomic nervous system (ANS); Autonomic Nervous System - physiology; Cognition - physiology; Cognitive load; cognitive workload; Decision making; Electrocardiography; Female; Galvanic Skin Response - physiology; Heart rate; Heart Rate - physiology; heart rate variability (HRV); Humans; Male; Memory; Nervous system; Neurological disorders; Original; Physiology; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Reaction Time - physiology; skin conductance response (SCR); Stress; Young Adult; Nepal; cognitive workload; autonomic nervous system (ANS); skin conductance response (SCR); heart rate variability (HRV)
• DOI: 10.1002/brb3.70089
• EISSN: 2162-3279

ABSTRACT
Introduction
We developed a low‐cost, user‐friendly complementary research tool to evaluate autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity at varying levels of cognitive workload. This was achieved using visual stimuli as cognitive tasks, administered through a specially designed computer‐based test battery.
Methods
To assess sympathetic stress responses, skin conductance response (SCR) was measured, and electrocardiograms (ECG) were recorded to evaluate heart rate variability (HRV), an indicator of cardiac vagal tone. Twenty‐five healthy adults participated in the study. SCR and ECG recordings were made during both tonic and phasic phases using a computer‐based system designed for visual stimuli. Participants performed a button‐pressing task upon seeing the target stimulus, and the relationship between reaction time (RT) and cognitive load was evaluated.
Results
Analysis of the data showed higher skin conductance levels (SCLs) during tasks compared to baseline, indicating successful elicitation of sympathetic responses. RTs differed significantly between simple and cognitive tasks, increasing with mental load. Additionally, significant changes in vagally mediated HRV parameters during tasks compared to baseline highlighted the impact of cognitive load on the parasympathetic branch of the ANS, thereby influencing the brain–heart connection.
Conclusion
Our findings indicate that the developed research tool can successfully induce cognitive load, significantly affecting SCL, RTs, and HRV. This validates the tool's effectiveness in evaluating ANS responses to cognitive tasks.
We developed a low‐cost, user‐friendly tool to evaluate autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses under varying cognitive workloads. Our study showed that this tool effectively induced cognitive load, significantly impacting skin conductance levels (SCL), reaction times (RTs), and heart rate variability (HRV). The findings validate the tool's effectiveness in assessing ANS responses, highlighting its potential for broader research applications.