Characteristics of the study subjects during the experimental session

Continuous variables are expressed as mean (SD), categorical variables are expressed as n (%). Significant results are shown in bold typeface. a Student's t-test; b Mann-Whitney's U-test; c Chi-squared test; d correction for multiple testing by means of the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure with a 5% False Discovery Rate (FDR). NC: normal cognition (controls); MCI: mild cognitive impairment; SBP: systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure; Δ respiratory rate: respiratory rate standing- respiratory rate baseline; VAS: visual analogue scale (score range 0–100, higher scores indicate greater stress).