Sh. Boutcher et Fw. Nugent, CARDIAC RESPONSE OF TRAINED AND UNTRAINED MALES TO A REPEATED PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESSOR, Behavioral medicine, 19(1), 1993, pp. 21-27
The authors examined cardiac response to repeated exposure to a psycho
logical stressor of aerobically conditioned (n = 15) and unconditioned
subjects (n = 15). Heart rate and electrocardiographic T-wave amplitu
de responses of 10 trials of the Stroop Test were monitored during and
after performance. Both groups' adaptation patterns were similar, wit
h a plateauing of heart rate response after the third trial. Compared
with the unconditioned group, however, the aerobically conditioned sub
jects recorded lower absolute heart rate responses during and after th
e stressor for every trial. Relative heart rate responses during the s
tressor and recovery were similar for both groups. There was also no d
ifference between groups in T-wave response during or after the stress
or. These data suggest that absolute heart rate response during and af
ter repeated exposure to a psychological stressor is lower for aerobic
ally trained individuals.