PhD, Associate Professor T.V. Baksheva¹
V.S. Milashechkin²
PhD, Associate Professor V.V. Ivanov²
N.V. Logachev^3
1North Caucasian Federal University, Stavropol
²Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow
³State University of Management, Moscow

Keywords: psychophysiological characteristics, motor mode, health, sensorimotor response.

Background. There is currently an increase in the number of students suffering from a wide range of chronic diseases. The major cause of poor health of children and young people is the underestimation of a healthy lifestyle in its importance for the development of physical and spiritual health, character education.

Additional physical training activities can be viewed as a way to systematically reduce the the negative impact of adaptation to new conditions associated with intense learning activities of students [3, 4].

Objective of the present study was to assess the psychophysiological characteristics of students with different levels of motor activity and identify changes in the most important health indicators.

Methods and structure of the study. The study involved apparently healthy male students of the Russian International Academy for Tourism (aged 16-18 years), who were divided into three groups: Group 1 – students not engaged in a certain kind of physical training and sports activities in addition to the compulsory physical education classes, with the volume of motor activity of 2 hours per week (n=28); Group 2 – students engaged in recreational physical education practices in addition to the compulsory physical education classes, with the volume of motor activity of 6 hours per week (n=32); Group 3 – students engaged in professional sports in sports schools in addition to the compulsory physical education classes, with the volume of motor activity of 8 hours per week (n=22).

The following psychophysiological characteristics were assessed in the 16-18 year-old male students: vital capacity measured in liters by an air spirometer; heart rate, blood and pulse pressure measured at rest using a semi-automatic OMRONM1 Compact tonometer; simple and complex visual-motor reaction, simple auditory-motor reaction; the tapping test was run using the hardware-software complex "Sports Psychophysiologist" [1]. All measurements were taken in view of the circadian and circaseptan biorhythms.

The outcome test data were processed using the variation statistics method in accordance with the principles set out in V.B. Korenberg’s manual (2008).

Results and conclusions. The analysis of the subjects’ heart rate (HR), systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) rates revealed that these rates were higher in the students with a lower level of motor activity than in those engaged in additional physical training and sports activities (see Table 1). Nevertheless, there were statistically significant differences in the HR values between the non-sporting students and students of the other two groups. In terms of blood pressure, there was a significant decrease in the rates (within the normal range) in the group of student athletes. There were no significant differences in the pulse rate (PR) values.

Table 1. Cardiorespiratory system functionality rates in students with different levels of motor activity

Note. р₁ – significance of differences in the average values between the students engaged and not engaged in additional physical training and sports activities; р₂ – significance of differences in the average values between the student athletes and those not engaged in additional physical training and sports activities; р₃ – significance of differences in the average values between the student athletes and those engaged in additional physical training and sports activities.

However, the students engaged in the recreational physical education practices in addition to the compulsory physical education classes had the high VC rates and HR and BP rate within the normal range. The decrease in the HR and BP rate in the group of student athletes indicated the economization of the circulatory system. At the same time, the student athletes were found to have the high external respiration rates. All of this testifies to the improvement of the pulmonary function in the students engaged in the recreational physical education practices and professional sports.

The central nervous system (CNS) plays a leading role in the processes of bodily adaptation to the ever-changing environmental conditions. As shown in Fig. 1, the time of the complex sensorimotor response to light in the students of all the study groups exceeded the time of the simple visual-motor reaction. This was due to the differentiation of the signal, i.e. the increase in the response time needed to recall how exactly to respond to a signal. Signal differentiation is the difference between the simple and complex sensorimotor response time, and the weaker the nervous system the greater its time. In our study, the time taken to differentiate the signal was 191.43 ms in the students not engaged in additional physical training and sports activities, 88.39 ms in those engaged in recreational physical education practices, and 26.85 ms in the students engaged in professional sports. That is, the more intense the physical loads and the greater the volume of motor activity, the more advanced and stronger the nervous system becomes. There was also a statistically significant increase in the time of the simple sensorimotor response to sound and light in the students with the lowest level of motor activity compared to the students of the other two groups.

Fig. 1. Sensorimotor response time in students with different levels of motor activity (*-p˂0.01), ms

The tapping test used to determine the maximum hand movement rate revealed not only the movement rate per unit of time but also the typological features of the nervous system. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the dynamics of changes in the hand movement rate per 1 minute in the student athletes. The convex type of the curve indicates a strong nervous system [2]. The test rates in the students who were engaged in additional recreational physical education practices were identical throughout the entire testing period, and only by the end of testing there, was a reduction in the hand movement rate, which indicates a flat (normal) type of the nervous system. The students not engaged in additional physical training and sports activities were found to have a descending (weak) type of the nervous system. The total number of hand movements in the student athletes was significantly higher than that in the other two groups (p˂0.01). At the same time, the hand movement rate per unit of time in the students not engaged in additional physical training and sports activities was the lowest as opposed to the average hand movement rate per 1 minute in the students engaged in recreational physical education practices.

Fig. 2. Tapping test rates in students with different levels of motor activity (at six 10-second intervals), number of taps

Сonclusions. Additional physical loads have a positive effect on most parameters reflecting the activity of the main functional systems of the student’s body. Moreover, the greatest differences were observed in the vital capacity and sensorimotor response rates.

References

1. Koryagina Yu.V., Nopin S.V. Apparatno-programmnyiy kompleks «Sportivny psikhofiziolog» (APK «Sportivny psikhofiziolog») # 2010617789 [Hardware and software complex "Sports psychophysiologist" (APK "Sports psychophysiologist") No. 2010617789]. Programmy dlya EVM. Bazy dannykh. Topologii integralnykh mikroshem. 2011. No. 1, v. 2. p. 308.
2. Koryagina Yu.V., Nopin S.V. Apparatno-programmnye kompleksy issledovaniya psikhofiziologicheskikh osobennostey sportsmenov [Hardware and software complexes for the study of psychophysiological characteristics of athletes]. Voprosy funktsionalnoy podgotovki v sporte vysshikh dostizheniy. 2013. v. 1. No. 1. pp. 70-78.
3. Milashechkina E.A., Jandarova T.I. Otsenka urovnya fizicheskogo razvitiya i funktsii dykhaniya studentok spetsialnoy meditsinskoy gruppy s raznym ob'emom dvigatelnoy aktivnosti [Physical progress rates of special health group students diagnosed with cardiovascular system disorders versus their physical activity rates]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury. 2018. no.4. pp. 17–19.
4. Milashechkina E.A., Jandarova T.I., Pogorelova O.V. Vliyanie dopolnitelnykh zanyatiy ozdorovitelnoy fizicheskoy kulturoy na adaptatsionnye vozmozhnosti studentok, imeyushchikh zabolevaniya sustavov vospalitelnogo kharaktera [Effects of Additional Recreational Physical Education Lessons on Adaptive Capabilities of Female Students Diagnosed with Inflammatory Joint Diseases]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury. 2020. no. 1. pp. 63-65.

Corresponding author: ea.milash@yandex.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to assess the psychophysiological characteristics of students with different levels of motor activity and identify changes in the most important health indicators.

Methods and structure of the study. The study involved the 16-18 year-old students with different motor activity modes. The following psychophysiological characteristics were assessed: vital capacity measured in liters by an air spirometer; heart rate, arterial blood and pulse pressure measured at rest using a semi-automatic OMRONM1 Compact tonometer; simple and complex visual-motor reaction, simple auditory-motor reaction; the tapping test was run using the hardware-software complex "Sports Psychophysiologist". All measurements were taken in view of the circadian and circaseptan biorhythms.

The outcome test data were processed using the variation statistics method in accordance with the principles set out in V.B. Korenberg’s manual (2008).

Results and conclusions. The findings showed that additional physical loads have a positive effect on most parameters reflecting the activity of the main functional systems of the student’s body. Moreover, the greatest differences were observed in the vital capacity and sensorimotor response rates.