title: Autonomic and muscular responses and recovery to one-hour laboratory mental stress in healthy subjects.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Stress is a risk factor for musculoskeletal pain. We wanted to explore stress related physiology in healthy subjects in order to gain insight into mechanisms of pain development which may relate to the pathophysiology of musculoskeletal pain disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  Continuous blood pressure, heart rate, finger skin blood flow, respiration, surface electromyography together with perception of pain, fatigue and tension were recorded on 35 healthy women and 9 healthy men before, during a 60 minute period with task-related low-grade mental stress, and in the following 30 minute rest period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects responded physiologically to the stressful task with an increase in trapezius and frontalis muscle activity, increased blood pressure, respiration frequency and heart rate together with reduced finger skin blood flow. The blood pressure response and the finger skin blood flow response did not recover to baseline values during the 30-minute rest period, whereas respiration frequency, heart rate, and surface electromyography of the trapezius and frontalis muscles recovered to baseline within 10 minutes after the stressful task. Sixty-eight percent responded subjectively with pain development and 64% reported at least 30% increase in pain. Reduced recovery of the blood pressure was weakly correlated to fatigue development during stress, but was not correlated to pain or tension.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on a lack of recovery of the blood pressure and the acral finger skin blood flow response to mental stress we conclude that these responses are more protracted than other physiological stress responses.
authors: Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurosciences, N-7489 Trondheim, Norway. kristian.b.nilsen@ntnu.no
authors: Kristian B
authors: KB
authors: Nilsen
authors: Trond
authors: T
authors: Sand
authors: Lars J
authors: LJ
authors: Stovner
authors: Rune B
authors: RB
authors: Leistad
authors: Rolf H
authors: RH
authors: Westgaard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D005221:Fatigue / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000098:blood supply; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009129:Muscle Tonus / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors
references: Prog Brain Res. 2000;122:351-67
references: 10737070
references: Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2006 Aug;13(4):507-14
references: 16874138
references: Occup Environ Med. 2000 Jul;57(7):433-42
references: 10854494
references: Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2001 Jan-Feb;28(1-2):115-9
references: 11153526
references: Am J Ind Med. 2001 Feb;39(2):180-93
references: 11170160
references: Headache. 1999 Jun;39(6):417-25
references: 11279919
references: J Rheumatol. 1988 Nov;15(11):1705-12
references: 2976831
references: Physiol Rev. 1991 Jan;71(1):305-30
references: 1986391
references: Scand J Rheumatol. 2001;30(2):92-8
references: 11324796
references: Scand J Psychol. 2002 Apr;43(2):189-96
references: 12004958
references: Am J Ind Med. 2002 May;41(5):315-42
references: 12071487
references: Am J Ind Med. 2002 May;41(5):393-405
references: 12071492
references: Eur Heart J. 2002 Nov;23(22):1757-63
references: 12419295
references: Ergonomics. 2002 Oct 20;45(13):887-909
references: 12519522
references: Psychosom Med. 2003 Jan-Feb;65(1):9-21
references: 12554812
references: Psychosom Med. 2003 Jan-Feb;65(1):22-35
references: 12554813
references: Acta Physiol Scand. 2003 Mar;177(3):237-45
references: 12608994
references: Acta Physiol Scand. 2003 Mar;177(3):255-74
references: 12608996
references: Scand J Work Environ Health. 2003 Apr;29(2):124-33
references: 12718498
references: Psychosom Med. 2003 May-Jun;65(3):450-60
references: 12764219
references: Psychophysiology. 2003 Mar;40(2):184-91
references: 12820859
references: Ergonomics. 1987 Jun;30(6):911-23
references: 3622473
references: Scand J Clin Lab Invest. 1990 Dec;50(8):823-9
references: 1964746
references: Hypertension. 1993 Jan;21(1):65-73
references: 8418025
references: Arch Intern Med. 1993 Sep 27;153(18):2093-101
references: 8379800
references: Headache. 1996 Jun;36(6):372-8
references: 8707556
references: Pain. 1997 Jan;69(1-2):111-7
references: 9060020
references: J Psychosom Res. 1997 Feb;42(2):117-35
references: 9076640
references: Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1997 Apr;105(2):156-64
references: 9152211
references: Headache. 1997 Sep;37(8):499-510
references: 9329233
references: J Physiol. 1997 Oct 1;504 ( Pt 1):211-20
references: 9350631
references: N Engl J Med. 1998 Jan 15;338(3):171-9
references: 9428819
references: J Rheumatol. 1998 Jan;25(1):152-5
references: 9458220
references: Neurology. 1999 Feb;52(3):523-8
references: 10025781
references: Muscle Nerve. 1999 Jun;22(6):678-95
references: 10366221
references: Eur J Appl Physiol. 2004 Oct;93(1-2):245-51
references: 15338221
references: Cephalalgia. 2006 Jan;26(1):64-73
references: 16396668
references: Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2000 May 1;25(9):1148-56
references: 10788861