Is There an Optimal Autonomic State for Enhanced Flow and Executive Task Performance?
Frontiers in Psychology January 1, 2019 Michael S Chin, Stefanos N Kales
Optimal cognitive performance and the experience of flow—a state of deep immersion—are linked to a specific balance of autonomic nervous system activity. In 48 healthy men, breathing and muscle-contraction exercises were used to shift autonomic states before a Stroop test. Both flow engagement and reaction time followed a U-shaped (inverted for flow) relationship with sympathovagal balance: moderate sympathetic predominance, without being extreme, was associated with the best performance and strongest flow. Extremes of either sympathetic or parasympathetic dominance impaired both subjective experience and objective task speed. The findings support the theory that peak human performance occurs at an optimal, not maximal, level of sympathetic arousal.