# The sympathetic nervous system response to a Continuous Performance Task

## TL;DR

This study examines how the body's stress response changes during a mental task and its link to psychological factors like stress and anxiety.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into the physiological response to a mental stressor and its limited correlation with psychological variables.

## Key findings

- Blood pressure and skin conductance increased during the attention test.
- Heart rate variability remained unchanged during the task.
- Higher perceived stress showed a trend of correlating with lower task accuracy.

## Abstract

A Continuous Performance Task is an example of a mental stressor which requires vigilance, attention, and effort. We hypothesized that a sympathetic nervous system response would be evident from a resting baseline period to this attention test, and explored if physiological measures were correlated to state and trait anxiety, perceived stress, mindfulness, and performance on the task. In 20 undergraduates, blood pressure and skin conductance increased due to the attention test but heart rate variability did not change. The physiological variables did not correlate to psychological variables; there was a trend of higher perceived stress correlating to lower foil accuracy rate (
p
= 0.09). ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT06098352