{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,11]],"date-time":"2026-06-11T07:59:27Z","timestamp":1781164767322,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]],"date-time":"2026-06-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780444800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This pilot study aimed to examine autonomic nervous system responses in student-athletes using heart rate variability (HRV) and skin conductance level (SCL) during sequential cognitive stressors, including a modified Stroop test and a mental math task. Fifty-two university athletes (mean age = 21.7 \u00b1 2.8 years) participated in this repeated-measures experimental study. HRV and SCL were recorded at baseline, during each stressor, and throughout the recovery periods following each task. Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significantly elevated SCL across experimental conditions [F(2.09, 100.53) = 45.69, p &lt; 0.001, \u03b72 = 0.488], which remained above baseline during recovery, indicating sustained sympathetic activation. HR also increased significantly during stress exposure, indicating increased autonomic activation during cognitive stress [F(2, 103.11) = 14.30, p &lt; 0.001, \u03b72 = 0.230]. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, vagally mediated HRV indices, including RMSSD [F(2.73, 131.11) = 6.88, p &lt; 0.001, \u03b72 = 0.125] and HF power [F(2.85, 136.99) = 16.86, p &lt; 0.001, \u03b72 = 0.260], increased during cognitive stress, suggesting adaptive parasympathetic modulation rather than vagal withdrawal. These findings indicate that autonomic responses to cognitive stress in athletes may involve simultaneous sympathetic and parasympathetic activation rather than a simple vagal withdrawal response. Overall, the findings only partially supported the initial hypotheses. Despite limitations related to sample size and short recording periods, the present findings highlight the importance of evaluating HRV and SCL together when examining psychophysiological stress responses in athletic populations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16060912","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T03:37:29Z","timestamp":1780544249000},"page":"912","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Stress Responses and Recovery in Student Athletes: Heart Rate Variability and Skin Conductance Patterns Across Cognitive Challenges\u2014A Pilot Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7455-4845","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aylin","family":"Zekio\u011flu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Sports Sciences, Manisa Celal Bayar University, Halil Erdo\u011fan Cd., Ahmet Bedevi Mah., 45040 Manisa, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4961-9202","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Serdar","family":"Tok","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Sports Sciences, Manisa Celal Bayar University, Halil Erdo\u011fan Cd., Ahmet Bedevi Mah., 45040 Manisa, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-5750-4201","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mert","family":"\u0130\u015fbilir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, University Campus, 69100 Komotini, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-1552-5525","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Said Enes","family":"Y\u0131lmaz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Sports Sciences, Manisa Celal Bayar University, Halil Erdo\u011fan Cd., Ahmet Bedevi Mah., 45040 Manisa, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1666-7304","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Erdal","family":"Binbo\u011fa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Ege University, 35100 Izmir, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1457-8383","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nihal","family":"Dal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Sports Sciences, Manisa Celal Bayar University, Halil Erdo\u011fan Cd., Ahmet Bedevi Mah., 45040 Manisa, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"889","DOI":"10.2165\/00007256-200333120-00003","article-title":"Heart rate variability in athletes","volume":"33","author":"Aubert","year":"2003","journal-title":"Sports Medicine"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e3153","DOI":"10.1002\/brb3.3153","article-title":"The effect of background audio and audiovisual stimuli on students\u2019 autonomic responses during and after an experimental academic examination","volume":"13","author":"Tok","year":"2023","journal-title":"Brain and Behavior"},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"647","article-title":"Decomposition of skin conductance data by means of nonnegative deconvolution","volume":"47","author":"Benedek","year":"2010","journal-title":"Psychophysiology"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"459","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.98.4.459","article-title":"Autonomic determinism: The modes of autonomic control, the doctrine of autonomic space, and the laws of autonomic constraint","volume":"98","author":"Berntson","year":"1991","journal-title":"Psychological Review"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Blascovich, J., and Mendes, W. 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