Heart rate perception and expectation impact laboratory-induced perceived stress

Area of Science:

• Psychophysiology
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• Human ability to accurately gauge physiological states is limited.
• The reasons for discrepancies between perceived and actual physiological stress remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between cardioceptive accuracy (CAc) and cardiovascular reactivity.
• To determine if CAc and stress expectations explain the gap between perceived and physiological stress.

Main Methods:

• A crossover experiment involving 64 university students assessed CAc via heartbeat tracking and heart rate perception.
• Physiological (handgrip) and mental (N-back) stress were induced.
• Cardiac, electrodermal activity, expected, and perceived stress were measured.

Main Results:

• Cardioceptive accuracy indicators did not correlate with cardiovascular reactivity.
• Heart rate perception moderated the link between heart rate changes and perceived stress during physical, but not mental, stress.
• Heartbeat tracking accuracy was not linked to perceived stress.
• Expected stress, not physiological changes, predicted perceived stress in the mental task.

Conclusions:

• Heart rate perception and stress expectations play a larger role in shaping perceived stress than physiological changes during moderate acute stress.
• This highlights the subjective nature of stress perception.