The Tell-Tale Heart: heart rate fluctuations index objective and subjective events during a game of chess

PETRONI, AGUSTÍN; FERNÁNDEZ SLEZAK, DIEGO; SIGMAN, MARIANO; LEONE, JULIANA

FRONTIERS IN HUMAN NEUROSCIENCE

FRONTIERS RES FOUND

Año: 2012 vol. 6 p. 237 - 237

1662-5161

During a decision-making process, the body changes. These somatic changes have been related to specific cognitive events and also have been postulated to assist decision-making indexing possible outcomes of different options. We used chess to analyze heart rate (HR) modulations on specific cognitive events. In a chess game, players have a limited time-budget to make about 40 moves (decisions) that can be objectively evaluated and retrospectively assigned to specific subjectively perceived events, such as setting a goal and the process to reach a known goal. We show that HR signals events: it predicts the conception of a plan, the concrete analysis of variations or the likelihood to blunder by fluctuations before to the move, and it reflects reactions, such as a blunder made by the opponent, by fluctuations subsequent to the move. Our data demonstrate that even if HR constitutes a relatively broad marker integrating a myriad of physiological variables, its dynamic is rich enough to reveal relevant episodes of inner thought.