Autonomic and muscular responses and recovery to one-hour laboratory mental stress in healthy subjects

Kristian B Nilsen,Trond Sand,Lars J Stovner,Rune B Leistad,Rolf H Westgaard

doi:10.1186/1471-2474-8-81

Abstract

BackgroundStress 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.MethodsContinuous 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.ResultsSubjects 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.ConclusionBased 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.

Highlights

Stress is a risk factor for musculoskeletal pain
The finger skin blood flow recovery variable (Table 2) correlated negatively the systolic and diastolic blood pressure recovery variables. This means that a high blood pressure at the end of the recovery period was associated with a small finger skin blood flow at the same time
In the present study of healthy subjects exposed to mental stress in 60 minutes the blood pressure and acral finger skin blood flow response did not recover to baseline even after 30 minutes rest

Summary

Introduction

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. A substantial epidemiological literature has shown that mental and social stress is a risk factor for development of musculoskeletal pain, especially for pain in the shoulder and neck [1,2,3,4]. The lack of physiological recovery after stress is considered by both groups a key factor linking stress and disease. In the search for possible biological correlates for the link between stress and disease, earlier laboratory studies have used short lasting stressors with analytical focus on the physiological reactivity (response to the stress), while the important physiological recovery period has received little attention [9]. Little is known about the physiology of the recovery period after stressful and repetitive work-related tasks

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion