Inhibitory control and cardiac pre-ejection period in young and middle-aged adults
Résumé
This study examined inhibitory control performance and
cardiac reactivity (pre-ejection period: PEP) using a within-subject
design.
Thirty young (18-27 years) and 30 middle-aged adults (55-65 years)
performed variants of a flanker task requiring different levels of
inhibition control and involving neutral, congruent and incongruent
conditions as well as conditions requiring a response (Go) or requiring
not to respond (No-Go). Reaction times (RT) and response accuracy
were recorded. After a training phase, the protocol involved
experimental blocks lasting 4 min and 30 sec, each preceded and
followed by a 3-min rest period. During the experiment, participants
were monitored for their cardiac activity using electrocardiogram(ECG)
and impedance cardiogram (ICG). Blood pressure (BP) was also
recorded during each rest period. PEP was calculated as the time
interval between R-onset (ECG signal) and B-point (ICG signal) andwas
averaged over one-min epochs. To examine the dynamic of the cardiac
activity during task blocks, mean PEP in ms was calculated on four
successivewindows of onemin. For eachwindow, PEP reactivity (ΔPEP)
in ms was calculated as PEPtask minus PEPresting.
The behavioral results showed that responses were significantly
slower and less accurate for the flanker No-Go block comparatively to
the flanker block and the neutral block. Furthermore, RT and accuracy
for the incongruent trials were significantlyworse than the ones for the
congruent trials. Also, overall, the older adultswere significantly slower
but more accurate than the younger ones for each experimental
condition. The inhibition cost was globally comparable between the
two groups. Concerning cardiac measures, the results revealed that
mean PEP values were higher for the older than the younger adults,
both at rest and during the tasks. However, importantly, for both
groups, PEP reactivity was significantly lower than 0 only during the
first minute of each experimental task, going back to baseline level
afterward. PEP reactivity values were comparable between the two
groups andwere significantlymore important during the flanker No-Go
block (-5.6 ms) comparatively to the flanker block (-3,3 ms) and the
neutral block (-3,9 ms).
In this study, PEP reactivity was shown to be sensitive to different
levels of inhibitory control requirement, to be equivalent between
young and middle-aged adultswith comparable cognitive performance,
and to be a short lasting phenomenon, demonstrating a possible rapid
dynamic adaptation of the cardiac activity to task constraints or a form
of habituation.
Domaines
Sciences cognitivesOrigine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
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