Psychosomatic medicine
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Psychosomatic medicine · Jul 2006
Comparative StudyVagal and sympathetic activity in burnouts during a mentally demanding workday.
We study differences in task performance and related sympathetic-vagal reaction patterns between burnouts and controls during a mentally demanding workday. ⋯ Burnouts and healthy controls differ in their pattern of sympathetic-vagal activity only after long-lasting work demands. Findings give limited support to Porges's view that in healthy subjects, the vagal system is more responsive to challenging task situations than in chronically stressed individuals. The distinction between two phases in the burnout on the basis of behavioral and physiological characteristics is discussed.