Background. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a leading cause of disabilities and death. CHD is known to be a multifactorial disease and in the process of complex research, it is important to take into account the role of psychological factors. The presence of gender specificities in the formation and course of cardiovascular diseases determines the need to study the psychological characteristics of men and women with CHD in order to plan and develop prevention and rehabilitation programs.

Objective. The present research is aimed at studying the psychological features in men and women with CHD before coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) at the stage of preoperative care: 1) the study of asthenic condition in patients with CHD (men and women) during inpatient treatment before CABG; 2) the study of the severity and structure of anxiety in patients with CHD (men and women) before CABG; 3) the study of psychopathological symptoms including depressive manifestations in patients (men and women) before CABG; 4) the study of personality peculiarities in patients with CHD before CABG.

Design. In the course of the present study 60 patients with CHD before CABG were surveyed with a gender distribution of 30 women and 30 men. The study was carried out on the basis of Almazov National Medical Research Centre of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation (St. Petersburg, Russia). The average age of patients was 60.9 ± 7.6. The study included the clinical interview and the following methods of psychological testing were used: Asthenic State Scale, Integrative Test of Anxiety (ITT), Symptom Check List-90-Revised, and The Big Five Personality Test.

Results. In women with CHD before CABG, the higher level of asthenia and anxiety (both state and trait) was found as compared with men. Also in women in comparison with male patients higher rates of such manifestations in the structure of their psychological features as “somatization”, “interpersonal sensitivity”, “depression”, “phobic anxiety” were noted. According to the results of the study of personality peculiarities, it was found that among men with CHD the indicator of emotional stability is higher than in women.

Conclusion. It is necessary to take into account the possible variants of a sensitive emotional response which may be more common in women at the stage of impatient treatment before CABG (including such manifestations as anxiety, low mood, emotional sensitivity, asthenia). In accordance with this, during psychocorrectional work, it is important to apply techniques aimed at working with those emotional-negative experiences that may worsen noticeably in connection with the upcoming surgical intervention.

Background. The physical nature of fatigue is complex. Fatigue leads to the depletion of the internal resources of the body. As a result, the pace of work slows down, with accuracy, rhythm and coordination of movements to be disturbed. Freestyle wrestling is a complex sport that imposes a whole complex of strict requirements on athletes, not only physically (strength, physical fitness, endurance, etc.), but also on the psychological and physiological level (using cognitive resources when choosing actions, reaction speed, and features of attention processes in time pressure conditions, etc.). Therefore, it is important to study the effects of physical fatigue on the psychophysiological indicators of wrestlers. The identification of such indicators reflecting the maximized functional conditions for each specific sport and for freestyle wrestling, in particular, will improve the efficiency of training athletes.

The Objective is to study the dynamic development of psychological and psychophysiological indicators in freestyle wrestlers before and after increased physical activity using psychological and electrophysiological methods, as well as to identify possible types of character accentuations in freestyle wrestlers related to the specifics of psychological and psychophysiological presented to this sport requirements. Background. The dynamics of the functional state in freestyle wrestlers was studied before and after increased physical activity. Physical activity was a training session in order to prepare athletes for competitive activity. To study the psychological and psychophysiological indicators of wrestlers, SAN questionnaires of Spielberger-Khanin test were used on a par with electrophysiological methods (EEG). Before training, athletes filled out test forms (SAN, Spilberger-Khanin and Schmishek-Leonhard methods), after which background EEG recording was performed. For statistical data analysis, the Statistica 8 package (for Windows, V 8.0, StatSoft) and the T-test for dependent samples were used. Accentuations of character typical of wrestlers were revealed using K. Leonhard’s (modification of S. Schmishek) method of studying accentuated personalities. We compared the performance of wrestlers of the group with high hypertimity (group 1) and the group with low hypertimity (group 2) in terms of the dynamics of the frequency of theta rhythm and alpha rhythm before and after exercise.

Results. Physical fatigue caused by strong physical exertion significantly affected a decrease in the subjective feeling of well-being, activity, and mood among athletes. In addition, physical fatigue was expressed in a significant decrease in the dominant and average frequency of the theta rhythm in the right hemisphere, as well as in a significant increase in the alpha rhythm in the left hemisphere. Freestyle wrestlers are mainly characterized by a hyper-type character accentuation type associated with mobility and balance of the nervous system, according to the literature. In a state of calm wakefulness, fighters with a hyperthymic type of accentuation are characterized by a low level of anxiety and a low frequency of theta rhythm, which, according to published data, is associated with the activity of the anterior cingulate gyrus, which is involved in the implementation of cognitive processes such as awaiting rewards and making decisions. In the conditions of struggle, there is a sharp increase in the level of anxiety in hyperthymic athletes and a decrease in the dominant frequency of the alpha rhythm in the right hemisphere. Simultaneously, a decrease in the theta rhythm frequency is observed in all wrestlers.

Conclusion. The results obtained allow us to suggest the existence of a certain functional system in freestyle wrestlers, which allows adapting the body’s regulatory systems for the effective implementation of sports activities through the activation of certain brain structures, in particular, the anterior cingulate gyrus. However, this study is pilot (the sample was only 9 athletes), therefore, the results can be illegally extrapolated to a wide selection, but they can be considered as a reserve for further work in this direction.

This research studies the effect of long-term cognitive load on developimg fatigue on a range of subjective, behavioural (reaction time) and electrophysiological (individual alpha rhythm), fatigue index parameters in carriers of various polymorphisms of DRD2 genes. Mental fatigue was modeled as a result of continuous cognitive tasks aimed at using attention and working memory for 2.5 hours.

The sample included 51 subjects (male right-handers, the average age - 20 ± 4 years) whose genetic analysis was conducted and polymorphism options of DRD2 gene Taq1A (A1A1, A1A2 and A2A2) were identified.

The research results show that such load significantly affects almost the entire complex of indicators. Significant differences were found between the polymorphisms carriers A1A1 and A1A2 and A2A2 of DRD2 gene polymorphism in the reaction of choice, and also in fatigue index, which reflects the ratio of slow brain rhythms to fast. The results show the positive role of dopamine in developing fatigue.

Group of A2A2 («A1») polymorphism carriers was assumed to show lower fatigue, characterized in SVMR and PB significantly slower reaction time, and before and after long-term cognitive load, compared with carriers of polymorphisms A1A1 and A1A2 (« A1 + «).

Notably, the dynamics of error increase within all polymorphisms is the same, and genotype number of errors does not vary before or after fatigue. The dynamics of reaction time after the exhaustion of all SNPs is approximately the same. This means that polymorphisms are different not only in dynamics of fatigue but physical predisposition to sensory information processing.

The influence of long-term cognitive load on the individual condition (HEM Questionnaire) and also electrophysiological parameters (individual alpha rhythm (IAR), the spectral characteristics of the electroencephalogram (EEG), fatigue index (IS)). Cognitive or mental load was simulated by a series of continuous solutions of various cognitive tasks assigned that were aimed mainly on working memory and attention within the time limit of 2.5 hours. Before and after the test we were making records of background EEG and the participants were completing HEM questionnaires.

Analysis of the results of research conducted by the statistical comparison of the data obtained before and after exercise. The results show that long-term cognitive load significantly tells on the subjective sphere and the activity of the participant. On the electrophysiological level, the load results in a decrease of individual alpha rhythm frequency, a vast increase in the fatigue index, and also the increase of average power of theta, alpha and beta rhythms. Thus, the cognitive load is reflected in the significant shift of brain activity dynamics manifested as quite dynamic parameters of the alpha and beta rhythms power, this being in a more stable performance, such as individual alpha rhythm and the fatigue index. Summing up, a significant mental work leads to a significant increase in the power of slow-wave activity in the brain and the deterioration of the subjective well-being. On the one hand, the results of the research correspond with the literature data and, on the other hand, the results are integrating the data of various studies and consequently provide a more comprehensive view of the process of mental fatigue in terms of the dynamics of the brain.

The peculiarities of the operator's work and in particular airplane pilots are analyzed. The flight personnel experimental results reveal the notion of immunity, which is defined as an individual psychological characteristic of a personality in relation to a human operator.