Electrocardiographic T-wave changes are more pronounced in type A than in type B men during mental work.

Abstract

Phasic changes in heart rate (HR) and electrocardiographic T-wave amplitude (TWA) were monitored in healthy Type A (coronary-prone) and Type B (non-coronary-prone) men during the performance of a difficult arithmetic task. Type As showed significantly greater reductions in TWA as compared to Type Bs, though no group differences were present in HR change. This pattern of results, wherein a significant Type A-B difference was observed in a phasic measure of ventricular performance (TWA), but not in one of supraventricular performance (HR), suggests that Type As experience excessive neurally mediated sympathetic stimulation of the myocardium during mental work.

Power spectral analysis of heart rate variability in Type As and Type Bs during mental workload.

“…We found that there were physiological differences between Type A and Type B persons by power spectral analysis. This conclusion supports earlier physiological and biochemical research (5)(6)(7).…”

“…Other investigators (3,4) have found increased cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory-induced challenging or stressful circumstances in Type A subjects. Several studies (5)(6)(7) have reported that there are differences in autonomic balance between individuals exhibiting the Type A behavior pattern and those who do not.…”

Beta and alpha adrenergic reactivity elicitable stress study with special reference of electrocardiographic T-wave amplitude.

“…Van Egeren and his colleagues (1983) reported that young TABP males and females represented stronger S-T segment depression and greater reduction of TWA and R-wave amplitude during competitive game task than TBBP controls. This greater TWA attenuation of TABP individuals during cognitive stress was also found in TABP subjects under mental arithmetic (Scher et al 1986). …”

The Concealed Information Test as an Instrument of Applied Differential Psychophysiology: Methodological Considerations

“…Also, as a result of this greater specific sensitivity to mental effort, TWA also proved to be more useful than HR in differentiating such individual-differences variables (i.e., differential psychophysiology) as the A versus B personality difference (e.g., Scher et al 1986), aerobic fitness (Shulhan et al 1986), and task incentive . Finally, in a recent memory experiment reported by Vincent et al (1996), TWA was shown (along with heartrate variance) to be specifically sensitive to ''depth of processing'' (Craik and Lockhart 1972), a concept that remains the cornerstone of most memory theories.…”