Effect of stress on somatosensory evoked potentials

The study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of somatosensory evoked potentia ls (SEPs) in studying the response to two types of experimentally induced s tressors, the cold presser test (CPT) and exercise. The subjects were 20 he althy normotensive males, 25-35 yr old. SEPs were recorded at baseline, imm ediately after CPT, in the recovery period after CPT and also immediately a fter exercise and in the recovery period after exercise. The CPT and exerci se produced no significant alteration in the absolute latencies, interpeak latency and amplitude of N-10 and N-20 components of SEPs. CPT and exercise produced changes in the systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure and the heart rate. It may be relevant to study the effect of stress on the la ter cortical components of the SEPs. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.