ArticlePhysiology & behavior2015
Comparison of two isometric handgrip protocols on sympathetic arousal in women.
Article in Physiology & behavior, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The effects of oral contraceptives on resting autonomic function and the autonomic response to physiological stressors: a systematic review.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of isometric handgrip exercise on cognitive function: Current evidence, methodology, and safety considerations.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Pooled it
- No Effect of Continuous Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on the P3, the P600, or Physiological Markers of Noradrenergic Activity in an Oddball and Sentence Comprehension Task.Psychophysiology · 2026Article
- Single-Trial Relationships Between the Error-Related Negativity, Pe, Error-Related Pupillary Dilation Response, and Post-Error Behavior.Psychophysiology · 2026Article
- Effects of physical effort on temporal processing.Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance · 2025Article
- Arousal increases locus coeruleus blood flow, salience-related brain responses, and modulates negative-valence attentional biases.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Measuring Arousal: Promises and Pitfalls.Affective science · 2025Review
- Autonomic nervous system dysfunction in pediatric sport-related concussion: a systematic review.The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association · 2023Article
- Monitoring Inattention in Construction Workers Caused by Physical Fatigue Using Electrocardiograph (ECG) and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) Sensors.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Detrimental effects of effortful physical exertion on a working memory dual-task in older adults.Psychology and aging · 2023Article
- Isometric handgrip exercise speeds working memory responses in younger and older adults.Psychology and aging · 2023Article
- Effects of acute exercise on emotional memory.Cognition & emotion · 2022Article
- Visual search under physical effort is faster but more vulnerable to distractor interference.Cognitive research: principles and implications · 2021Article
- Isometric exercise facilitates attention to salient events in women via the noradrenergic system.NeuroImage · 2020Article
- Effect of Hyperventilation on Periodic Repolarization Dynamics.Frontiers in physiology · 2020Article
- Emotional arousal amplifies competitions across goal-relevant representation: A neurocomputational framework.Cognition · 2019Article
- Arousal amplifies biased competition between high and low priority memories more in women than in men: The role of elevated noradrenergic activity.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2017Article
- Sex differences in insular cortex gyri responses to a brief static handgrip challenge.Biology of sex differences · 2017Article
- Lost in Time and Space: States of High Arousal Disrupt Implicit Acquisition of Spatial and Sequential Context Information.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2017Article
- The Locus Coeruleus: Essential for Maintaining Cognitive Function and the Aging Brain.Trends in cognitive sciences · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Isometric handgrip is commonly used in stress research because the task reliably increases sympathetic arousal. Various handgrip protocols have been used; they vary in handgrip strength, duration of grip, and the number of cycles of handgrip and rest. However, most protocols require the calibration of a maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) prior to the handgrip task, which is not always convenient (i.e., in a functional magnetic resonance imaging study). Here, we wanted to test whether two handgrip protocols with different strength, duration and cycle protocols would reliably elicit sympathetic arousal in the absence of calibrating an MVC. Sixty-two healthy naturally cycling women and women on hormonal contraception participated in one of the two isometric handgrip protocols using a hand therapy ball of medium resistance. Women completed one of the following handgrip protocols: 1) 30% of a perceived maximum voluntary contraction for 3 min or 2) 3 cycles of maximum voluntary contraction for 18s with a one minute rest in between. All handgrip blocks were counterbalanced with a control condition. Sympathetic arousal was measured throughout the session via pupil diameter changes and salivary alpha-amylase. Results indicate that in the absence of calibrating an MVC, the handgrip tasks elicited different changes in sympathetic arousal. Pupil dilation responses increased significantly in the handgrip versus control blocks only in participants in the 18-s protocol. Additionally, more participants exhibited a salivary alpha-amylase response to the handgrip block in the 18-s condition compared to the 3-min condition. Thus, these results suggest that neuroimaging and behavioral studies with isometric handgrip should be able to successfully induce sympathetic nervous activity with the 18-s paradigm, regardless of the handgrip device and the ability to calibrate an MVC.
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Registered trials
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