Positive emotions produced a higher number of decelerations in short-term heart rate variability (C1d) compared to negative emotions in a study of 30 female participants.
Observational (n=30)
Do different emotional states influence heart rate asymmetry in female participants?
Heart rate asymmetry is sensitive to psychological influences, with positive emotions producing more decelerations in short-term variability compared to negative emotions.
Abstract Heart rate asymmetry (HRA) is an index that accounts for an uneven contribution of decelerations and accelerations to the heart rate variability (HRV). Clinical studies indicated that HRA measures have additive clinical value over the more frequently used HRV indexes. Despite the abundance of studies on psychological influences on HRV, little is known whether psychological factors influence HRA. Based on previous research regarding HRA and stress, we expected that negative emotions compared to positive emotions would decrease the contribution of decelerations to HRV. Thirty female participants watched three clips that produced negative emotions, positive emotions, and neutral affect. Besides electrocardiogram, we measured several physiological and behavioral responses to ascertain the affective impact of the clips. Using the RR interval time series, we calculated HRV and HRA indexes. We found that HRA differentiated between positive emotions and negative emotions reactivity. Positive emotions produced a higher number of decelerations in short‐term variability to the total short‐term variability ( C 1 d ) compared to negative emotions. Moreover, C 1 d correlated with subjective ratings of affect. In sum, the results of this study indicated that HRA is sensitive to psychological influences. HRA indexes are likely to contribute to a more nuanced physiological differentiation between emotions.
Kaczmarek et al. (2019) reported an observational. Positive emotion-inducing clips vs. Negative emotion-inducing clips was evaluated on Heart rate asymmetry (HRA) indexes, specifically the contribution of decelerations to short-term variability (C1d). Positive emotions produced a higher number of decelerations in short-term heart rate variability (C1d) compared to negative emotions in a study of 30 female participants.