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Age-Specific Features of Physiological Responses of Five- to Seven-Year-Old Children to Working with a PC

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Abstract

The functional status of the central nervous system (CNS), the character of the regulation of the heart rhythm, and general operative efficiency were studied in 96 five-, six-, and seven-year-old children working with a personal computer (PC). The study revealed certain age-specific features in the childrens' physiological reactions to this work: five-year-old children differed significantly from their six–seven-year-old counterparts both in their basal physiological status and in their reactions to working with a PC. Five-year-olds also displayed the least favorable time of the CNS functional parameters and operative efficiency (60% of these children displayed various signs of fatigue). Similar age-specific features were also found in the regulation of the heart rhythm while working with a PC. In spite of the fact that 58% of all the children examined showed an optimal strength of their autonomic regulatory mechanisms, a highly stressed state of the regulation of the heart rhythm was observed in 21 and 28% of five-year-old children before and after working with a PC, contrasted with 10–16 and 17–25% in six- to seven-year-old children, respectively. It was concluded that the physiological and hygienic norm setting for children working with a PC should consider the five-year-olds as a separate group.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Age Physiology, Russian Academy of Education, Russia

    L. A. Leonova & G. N. Luk'yanets

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  1. L. A. Leonova
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  2. G. N. Luk'yanets
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Leonova, L.A., Luk'yanets, G.N. Age-Specific Features of Physiological Responses of Five- to Seven-Year-Old Children to Working with a PC. Human Physiology 27, 666–670 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012920808992

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