Effects of Working Memory Load on Performance and Cardiovascular Activity in Younger and Older Workers.

Background: Working memory (WM) declines with ageing, and this may cause problems in older workers who have to do complex work requiring WM. Purpose: We tested the assumption that an increase in WM load negatively affects performance and results in impaired cardiovascular adaptation to changing task...

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Publicado en:International Journal of Behavioral Medicine Vol. 19; no. 3; pp. 359 - 372
Autores principales: Schapkin, Sergei, Freude, Gabriele, Gajewski, Patrick, Wild-Wall, Nele, Falkenstein, Michael
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Springer Nature Sep2012
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Sep2012
      vid: 19
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      pub: Springer Nature
      place: New York, New York
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        atl: Effects of Working Memory Load on Performance and Cardiovascular Activity in Younger and Older Workers.
      aug:
        au:
          Schapkin, Sergei
          Freude, Gabriele
          Gajewski, Patrick
          Wild-Wall, Nele
          Falkenstein, Michael
        affil: Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Nöldnerstrasse 40-42 10317 Berlin Germany
      sug:
        subj:
          Occupational Health
          Workload
          Memory
          Adaptation, Occupational
          Age Factors
          Heart Rate Variability
          Human
          Germany
          Male
          Female
          Adult
          Middle Age
          Job Characteristics
          Baroreflex
          Heart Rate
          Blood Pressure Determination
          Factor Analysis
          Health Behavior
          Electrocardiography
          Spectral Analysis
          Clinical Assessment Tools
          Analysis of Variance
          Data Analysis Software
          T-Tests
          Descriptive Statistics
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Middle Aged: 45-64 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Background: Working memory (WM) declines with ageing, and this may cause problems in older workers who have to do complex work requiring WM. Purpose: We tested the assumption that an increase in WM load negatively affects performance and results in impaired cardiovascular adaptation to changing task demands in older workers relative to younger ones. Method: Thirty-three younger (29 ± 3 years) and 32 older (55 ± 3 years) workers had to perform a visual 0-back (low WM load) and 2-back (high WM load) task. Heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP) and baroreflex were registered. Results: In the high WM load condition, older adults responded more slowly and less accurately than younger adults, while no age effects in the low WM load condition were found. Older workers showed a higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactivity to high WM load as well as a diminished post-task recovery of SBP and HRV than younger workers. Factor analysis demonstrated a close relationship between HR, baroreflex and HRV and their modulation by a common factor ('vagal tone') in the younger group. By contrast, HR was more related to the 'sympathetic' factor in the older group. Conclusion: The data suggest that older workers as compared with younger ones are impaired in tasks requiring WM, which is accompanied by enhanced cardiovascular 'costs' in terms of increased SBP and reduced vagal control over HR.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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