ArticleFrontiers in psychology2019
Is There an Optimal Autonomic State for Enhanced Flow and Executive Task Performance?
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Efficacy of psychosensory interventions for the management of pediatric pain, fear, and distress during emergency care: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- The Relationship between Flow Experience and Burnout Symptoms: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Dismantling the Component-Specific Effects of Yogic Breathing: Feasibility of a Fully Remote Three-Arm RCT with Virtual Laboratory Visits and Wearable Physiology.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Trial
- Inter-individual predictors of pain inhibition during performance of a competing cognitive task.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- A Study on the Effects of Embodied and Cognitive Interventions on Adolescents' Flow Experience and Cognitive Patterns.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Physiological assessment of the psychological flow state using wearable devices.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Association Between Surgeon Stress and Major Surgical Complications.JAMA surgery · 2025Article
- Flow state and autonomic response patterns during sensory rejection tasks using the Uchida-Kraepelin Test.PloS one · 2025Article
- A Review of the Use of Gaze and Pupil Metrics to Assess Mental Workload in Gamified and Simulated Sensorimotor Tasks.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- A Preliminary Study of the Efficacy of Using a Wrist-Worn Multiparameter Sensor for the Prediction of Cognitive Flow States in University-Level Students.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Changes in pupil dilation and P300 amplitude indicate the possible involvement of the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system in psychological flow.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Fostering flow experiences at work: a framework and research agenda for developing flow interventions.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Review
- Article
- Low ventilatory responsiveness to transient hypoxia or breath-holding predicts fast marathon performance in healthy middle-aged and older men.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Perception of Subtle Energy "Global advances in integrative medicine and healthReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionFlow describes a state of optimal experience that can promote a positive adaptation to increasing stress. The aim of the current study is to identify the ideal autonomic state for peak cognitive performance by correlating sympathovagal balance during cognitive stress with (1) perceived flow immersion and (2) executive task performance. MATERIALS AND
methodsAutonomic states were varied in healthy male participants (
resultsThere were significant associations between autonomic state and flow engagement with an inverted U-shaped function for parasympathetic stimulation, sympathetic response, and overall sympathovagal balance. There were also significant associations between autonomic states and reaction times. Combining sympathetic and parasympathetic responses to evaluate overall sympathovagal balance, there was a significant U-shaped relationship with reaction time. DISCUSSION: Our results support the flow theory of human performance in which the ideal autonomic state lies at the peak of an inverted-U function, and extremes at either end lead to both suboptimal flow experience. Similarly, cognitive task performance was maximized at the bottom of the U-function. Our findings suggest that optimal performance may be associated with predominant, but not total, sympathetic response.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.