A study of EMG amplitudes and physiological responses comparing different levels of physical and mental stress-induced tasks

摘要

Research on musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) has mainly focused on the influence of physical risk factors in the past. In recent years, there has been rising attention on the effects of mental and psychological stress factors affecting the computer users and contributing to the development of WMSD. A few studies have examined the effects of performing mentally stressful tasks on the muscle activity during computing tasks but the results were not conclusive. The present study aimed to compare the effects of different levels of physical and mental stress-induced tasks (sustained for 15 minutes) on physiological measures - blood pressure and heart rate, and muscle activity in terms of surface electromyography. The results suggested that tasks with different levels of mental stress had differential effects on the motor control and physiological responses among different individuals.