Cardiac cycle time effects on mask inhibition

Abstract

Research on the interaction of the cardiovascular and the central nervous system has demonstrated inhibitory effects associated with baroreceptor stimulation. One way of examining baroreceptor influence on behavior and central nervous processes is by making use of naturally occurring variations in baroreceptor stimulation in the course of the cardiac cycle. In terms of perceptual and sensorimotor processes, until today, research has focused primarily on cardiac cycle time effects on the perception of and reaction to simple stimuli. The present study is the first to investigate modulatory effects of variations in baroreceptor activity in the context of a more complex stimulus configuration using a visual masking task in which a target has to be selected against an interfering mask. The results suggest that baroreceptor stimulation enhances inhibitory processes needed to solve perceptual interference.