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Updated: Mar 1, 2026
An Alternative to the Traditional Cold Pressor Test: The Cold Pressor Arm Wrap
Published on: January 16, 2014
Brain Oscillations Elicited by the Cold Pressor Test: A Putative Index of Untreated Essential Hypertension
Christos Papageorgiou1, Efstathios Manios1, Eleftheria Tsaltas2
1Department of Clinical Therapeutics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, Athens, Greece.
Objective:
Essential hypertension is associated with reduced pain sensitivity of unclear aetiology. This study explores this issue using the Cold Pressor Test (CPT), a reliable pain/stress model, comparing CPT-related EEG activity in first episode hypertensives and controls.
Method:
22 untreated hypertensives and 18 matched normotensives underwent 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). EEG recordings were taken before, during, and after CPT exposure.
Results:
Significant group differences in CPT-induced EEG oscillations were covaried with the most robust cardiovascular differentiators by means of a Canonical Analysis. Positive correlations were noted between ABPM variables and Delta (1-4 Hz) oscillations during the tolerance phase; in high-alpha (10-12 Hz) oscillations during the stress unit and posttest phase; and in low-alpha (8-10 Hz) oscillations during CPT phases overall. Negative correlations were found between ABPM variables and Beta2 oscillations (16.5-20 Hz) during the posttest phase and Gamma (28.5-45 Hz) oscillations during the CPT phases overall. These relationships were localised at several sites across the cerebral hemispheres with predominance in the right hemisphere and left frontal lobe.
Conclusions:
These findings provide a starting point for increasing our understanding of the complex relationships between cerebral activation and cardiovascular functioning involved in regulating blood pressure changes.
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