THE INFLUENCE OF EXPERIMENTAL STRESS ON THE AUTONOMOUS REGULATION OF HEART ACTIVITY

The study is aimed at the problems of stress and its physiological res ponses in the organism, namely the influence of stress on the autonomo us regulation of heart activity. In the project realised the Stroop te st of interference as a standardised stress situation was used and the prestress, stress, and post-stress heart activity was assessed. After that, the spectral analysis of the heart rate variability was carried out (aiming at the specification of the impact of stressor used on th e regulative influences of the autonomous nervous system and its subsy stems - the sympaticus and vagus - in the relation to the heart activi ty), and the results obtained were compared to selected indicators of used psychodiagnostic methods (Stroop test, the Achievement Motivation Questionnaire, the Eight States Questionnaire, Freiburg Personality I nventory). It was stated that the Stroop test is a suitable method for the investigation of this type and the simultaneous using of the spec tral analysis of the heart rate variability opens the way to the regis tration and to better understanding of changes in the circulation syst em evoked by the psychological stress. The suggested method could repr esent the contribution both in the prevention field, and e.g. in ratin g of the measures of cardiovascular risks in threatened population, in planning the therapeutic procedures, and the assessment of the effect of relaxation training in psychosomatic ill people.