Systolic Blood Pressure and a Simple Reaction Time Task

Cardiovascular changes during a reaction time task have been hypothetically related to the speed of response with implications for a close connection between the two, but little research has attempted to characterize the pressor response in this situation. In this study, continuous measures of heart rate, respiration, and systolic blood pressure (using a noninvasive tracking‐cuff system) were made in 12 subjects during a visually signalled reaction time task with a fixed foreperiod of 6 sec. Consistent and significant changes were shown over the course of the foreperiod–an increase in systolic pressure, a multiphasic pattern in heart rate, and a decrease in respiration amplitude. There was a nonsignificant increase in respiration rate. Correlations between response latency and various indices of physiological level and change during the foreperiod were low and nonsignificant. The changes in heart rate and systolic blood pressure during the foreperiod appeared independent of one another. Interrelationships between the physiological measures in their phasic and tonic changes, and the implications of the findings for cardiovascular‐behavioral interactions are discussed.