Urinary excretion of catecholamines during a psychomotor choice eaction test before and after physical conditioning

Abstract

Urinary excretion of noradrenaline and adrenaline and the performance of 12 volunteer male students were determined during a highly motivated competition in a 45 minute psychomotor choice reaction test. The measurements were repeated after a nine-week period of regular endurance conditioning with 6 of the subjects. In comparison with the control situations the urinary excretion of catecholamines increased significantly in both measurements (p < .001). The prevalence of mental tension reflected in a significantly decreased ratio of noradrenaline to adrenaline (p < .05 - .01). No significant adaptation was found. A tendency was found in the high excretion group having less errors during the CRT than the low excretion group. After the training no significant difference in the performance during CRT or in the urinary excretion of catecholamines was noticed between the trained and the control group.