Key result
Biofeedback to increase heart rate oscillations increases targeted hippocampal volume vs decreasing oscillations in older adults.
Why the study?
The study tested whether daily sessions modulating heart rate oscillations affect structural volume in hippocampal subregions with relatively strong locus coeruleus noradrenergic input in older adults.
Does daily biofeedback to increase heart rate oscillations affect structural volume in hippocampal subregions in younger and older adults?
RCT (n=193)
Single-blind
Blocked randomization
No
Does daily biofeedback to increase heart rate oscillations affect structural volume in hippocampal subregions in younger and older adults?
Daily biofeedback to increase heart rate oscillations via slow-paced breathing increases structural volume in specific hippocampal subregions in older adults.
Biofeedback for heart rate oscillations should not yet change practice; extends RCT evidence linking autonomic training to hippocampal structure in older adults.
Using data from a clinical trial, we tested the hypothesis that daily sessions modulating heart rate oscillations affect older adults' volume of a region-of-interest (ROI) comprised of adjacent hippocampal subregions with relatively strong locus coeruleus (LC) noradrenergic input. Younger and older adults were randomly assigned to one of two daily biofeedback practices for 5 weeks: 1) engage in slow-paced breathing to increase the amplitude of oscillations in heart rate at their breathing frequency (Osc+); 2) engage in self-selected strategies to decrease heart rate oscillations (Osc-). The interventions did not significantly affect younger adults' hippocampal volume. Among older adults, the two conditions affected volume in the LC-targeted hippocampal ROI differentially as reflected in a significant condition x time-point interaction on ROI volume. These condition differences were driven by opposing changes in the two conditions (increased volume in Osc+ and decreased volume in Osc-) and were mediated by the degree of heart rate oscillation during training sessions.
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Yoo et al. (2023) conducted an RCT in Healthy adults (n=193). Heart rate variability biofeedback to increase oscillations (Osc+) vs. Biofeedback to decrease heart rate oscillations (Osc-) was evaluated on Structural volume in locus coeruleus-targeted hippocampal subregions. Five weeks of daily biofeedback to increase heart rate oscillations increased structural volume in locus coeruleus-targeted hippocampal subregions in older adults compared to biofeedback to decrease oscillations.
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