Key result
Higher resting high-frequency heart rate variability was significantly associated with greater total cerebral blood flow (β = 0.149, p = 0.002) and lower regional perfusion in several brain areas.
Cross-Sectional (n=432)
No
Effect estimate: β = 0.149
p-value: p=0.002
There is a communality between brain regions associated with task-induced vagal reactivity and those associated with resting cardiac vagal activity, with some variations by sex and race.
Resting HF-HRV–CBF associations are hypothesis-generating; leaves open whether these neural correlates predict clinical vagal outcomes.
We examined the neural correlates of resting cardiac vagal activity in a sample of 432 participants (206 male; 61 African American; mean age 42 years). Pulsed arterial spin labeling was used to quantify whole brain and regional cerebral blood flow at rest. High-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) was used to measure cardiac vagal activity at rest. The primary aim was to determine whether brain regions implicated in regulating cardiac vagal reactions were also related to cardiac vagal activity at rest, and whether these associations varied by sex or race. Brain areas previously related to vagal reactivity were related to resting HF-HRV. Directionality of relationships differed between overall and regional flows. Some relationships were only observed in women and African Americans. There appears to be communality between brain regions associated with task-induced vagal reactivity and those associated with resting cardiac vagal activity.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Allen et al. (2014) conducted a cross-sectional in Healthy adults (n=432). Resting high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) was evaluated on Total cerebral blood flow (β = 0.149, p=0.002). Higher resting high-frequency heart rate variability was significantly associated with greater total cerebral blood flow (β = 0.149, p = 0.002) and lower regional perfusion in several brain areas.
Synapse has enriched 4 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: