Том 44, № 4 (2018)

Distinctive features of autonomic regulation of the heart rate and spatiotemporal parameters of eye movements during the reading of texts of different complexities levels from a computer screen have been analyzed in girls and boys eight to nine years of age. Sex-related differences in heart rate variability (HRV) pattern were already observed in the resting state, since parasympathetic effects were stronger in boys than in girls. Parasympathetic activity decreased in boys who were reading texts of different complexities. The most pronounced decrease was observed during the reading of the first (simple) text. The changes in girls were mostly due to an increase in sympathetic activity and were less pronounced than in boys. Oculomotor activity analysis revealed differences in reading process strategy: reading was more fragmented (discrete) in the girls and more integrated in the boys. However, reading skills were not fully developed in children of eight to nine years of age, since “syllabized” reading was observed in girls and boys alike.

The emotional state of a person affects both the central level and the peripheral indices of the autonomic nervous system, particularly those of the regulation of the heart rate. Our study showed that boys with a higher level of anxiety had higher values of the latent period of the P300 evoked potential and lower indices of short-term auditory memory. Changes in the temporal and spectral components of heart rate variability under the conditions of mental workload indicate that the neurohumoral regulation of the heart rate is shifted toward the suprasegmental influences, including pituitary–hypothalamic and cortical influences.

Relationships of the adaptation potential with sets of somatic, functional, and dermatoglyphic parameters; personality traits; and polymorphisms of certain genes (FTO, DAT1, and VDR) were studied using data from anthropological examination and psychological testing of 655 healthy students aged 17–25 years from various higher education schools. The study employed two methods that allow premorbid diagnosis of the functional (physical) condition and adaptation and are recommended for large-scale preventive examinations in adults. The methods address the functional status according to Pirogova et al. and the adaptation potential according to Bayevsky et al. An original model of relationships between different sets of traits (somatic, functional, dermatoglyphic, and personality traits) and the adaptive potential in early adulthood was proposed on the basis of significant canonical correlations and Pearson’s contingency coefficients with due regards to the effects that the gene polymorphisms exert on the formation of trait sets.

The latency of a simple psychophysiological (visual motor) response (SPPR) was studied as dependent on the waiting time, which was the period between the previous response to a subsequent stimulus and was varied from 1 to 3000 ms. An ordinal approximation was used for the resulting monotonic dependence. The latency of the simple psychophysiological response at shorter intervals between the previous response and a subsequent stimulus was observed to be far greater than at longer intervals. The latency decreased with the increasing waiting time until 3–4 s after the previous response. The decrease included at least two components. The components were found to be interdependent. The decrease in latency was assumed to result from autoinhibition due to the previous response.

Competitive sports induce gradual cardiac adaptations in young athletes. During growth, changes occur in their body composition. The purpose of this study is to provide the left ventricular parameters indexed for body composition during young athletes’ growth 220 young athletes (110 females and 110 males) aged from 8 to 19 years old were enrolled. An accurate body composition analysis and echocardiography were performed. The left ventricular parameters were then indexed to the body surface area formula with the data related to body composition (fat-free mass and body cellular mass). The left ventricular and body composition parameters increased continuously during growth and no differences between the sexes were found before puberty. Higher fat mass was found in females from 12 years old (Fat Mass Index: Female = 4.8 ± 1.8 kg/m², Male = 3.6 ± 0.9 kg/m²; p< 0.05). Cardiac differences started at 13 years old, with a greater left ventricular mass in males (Female = 110.9 ± 20.2 g, Male = 128.7 ± 23.7 g; p< 0.05). The indexing of the left ventricle to the body composition parameters increased the age of onset of these cardiological differences to 14 years old with fat-free mass (Female = 91.8 ± 18.7 g/m², Male = 105.0 ± 19.5 g/m²; p< 0.05), or to 15 years old with body cell mass (Female = 124.3 ± 17.9 g/m², Male = 145.8 ± 28.5 g/m²; p< 0.05). Differences between the sexes appear to start after puberty. The above indexing was used in order to normalize the differences between the sexes according to body composition. This study reports the reference values for age and gender of the left ventricular parameters indexed for metabolically active mass.

The phenomenon of reproduction of the series of passive single-joint movements in the tested arm by the contralateral arm just in the course of passive movements with no visual control was studied in 35 healthy subjects and 13 post-stroke patients in order to develop a new method for objective assessment of sense of the arm motion for the detection of proprioceptive deficit and for monitoring of the changes in proprioception during rehabilitation. We examined the reproduction of flexion–extension at the elbow and wrist joints, abduction–adduction at the wrist joint and the forearm pronation–supination in both right and left arms in healthy subjects and in the affected arm in post-stroke patients. Displacements of the angles in the tested joint and a homonymous joint of the other arm were acquired by means of video recording system, goniometers, or 9-DoF inertional-magnetometric sensors. Qualitative and quantitative indicators were evaluated to assess the similarity of the passive and active movements. It has been found that the healthy subjects are able to actively reproduce the repeated passive movements at different joints of either the left or right tested arm almost simultaneously and with quite accurate reproduction of an amplitude and shape of movement. At the same time, most of post-stroke patients reproduce movements either with qualitative errors demonstrating incorrect location or wrong estimation of direction or number of repeated test movements, or with significant reduction of accuracy (increased latency or shape distortion). We proposed a method for the assessment of movement proprioception at individual joints. The procedure is easy and convenient for both physicians and patients. It does not require special heavy equipment and can easily be performed under different conditions in a wide range of patients.

We have used laser Doppler flowmetry with wavelet analysis of the amplitude–frequency spectrum of blood flow oscillations to investigate the microcirculation and the mechanisms of its control in both sexes at different ages: junior school age, adolescence, and preadult age. It was shown that adolescents (both boys and girls) had more intense tissue perfusion and root-mean-square deviation of microcirculation as compared with junior school age. We observed an increase in the basal indexes of microcirculation in adolescents, which is caused by the activation of regulatory processes. In preadult girls, the microcirculatory flow index (MFI) was lower compared to adolescent girls; in preadult boys, MFI is higher compared to adolescent boys. It probably results from redistribution of influence between regulatory mechanisms. The analysis of the amplitude–frequency spectrum of preadults shows a decrease in oscillation amplitudes in all active and passive oscillation ranges compared to adolescents. Thus, we have detected the differences in microcirculation parameters and in the effects of active and passive regulatory factors of microcirculation. The findings are indicative of certain age-related changes in the microcirculation system.

Frequency resolving power (FRP) was measured in normal listeners. FRP was estimated on the basis of the maximum resolvable ripple density in rippled-spectrum signals. Two measurement procedures were compared: detection of ripple-pattern change and comparison of rippled-spectrum signals. In the change detection method, two successive sound signals were presented to the listener: a test signal and a reference signal. The test signal contained ripple phase reversals every 400 ms; in the reference signal, the ripple phase was constant. The listener’s task was to identify the test signal. In the comparison method, three signals were presented to the listener. The ripple phase in one of the three signals was opposite to that in other two signals. The listener’s task was to identify the signal different from the other two signals. The signal frequency bands varied from 0.5 to 5 oct at a level of 0.5 of the maximum. At all frequency bands, the change-detection method yielded, on average, 1.75 oct^–1 higher FRP estimates compared to the comparison method. This difference between the two methods is supposed to be due to the greater involvement of cognitive processes (short-term memory) in the comparison method. The change-detection method is more preferable for measuring the sensory component of FRP.

Reference no. 5 should read as follows:

Lutsenko, D.G., Shylo, A.V., Marchenko, L.N.,Perskiy, Ye.E., and Babiychuk, G.A., Peculiarities of heart rhythm regulation at different types of cold acclimation in rats, Probl. Cryobiol. Cryomed., 2013, vol. 23, no. 2, p. 105.