Heart rate variability response to mental arithmetic stress is abnormal in first-degree relatives of individuals with schizophrenia

Heart rate variability and vagal tone in schizophrenia: A review

“…Likewise, comparisons between offspring and siblings of individuals with schizophrenia have shown vagal tone deficits to be more pronounced in offspring (Bӓr et al, 2009). Also noteworthy was the finding that resting ANS functioning in first-degree relatives was comparable to that of controls (Castro et al, 2009), while patients had exhibited abnormalities in resting ANS functioning relative to nonpsychiatric controls (Castro et al, 2008). Overall, these findings in first-degree relatives support the theory that diminished vagal tone may actually be characteristic of those susceptible to developing schizophrenia rather than just the mere result of chronic stress.…”

“…For example, Ieda et al (2014) specifically screened out any drug or alcohol abuse among participants, Lee et al (2011) asked participants to refrain from consuming alcohol for 12 h prior to data collection, and Bӓr et al (2012) controlled for both illegal and legal substances via monitoring serum drug levels. In addition, many HRV research designs have also attempted to match members of the patient and control groups based on smoking habits (Bӓr, Wernich et al, 2008;Bӓr et al, 2012;Berger et al, 2010), requested participants refrain from smoking ranging between 30 min to 6 h before the evaluation (Bӓr et al, 2005;Castro et al, 2008Castro et al, , 2009Chang et al, 2009Chang et al, , 2010Henry et al, 2010;J auregui et al, 2011;Lee et al, 2011;Moon et al, 2013), or both (Bӓr, Boettger, Berger et al, 2007Bӓr, Boettger, Koschke et al, 2007;Bӓr, Koschke et al, 2007;Bӓr et al, 2009). Further, several studies have failed to find that smoking had any statistically significant effect on vagal tone in comparisons between patient and control groups (Birkhofer et al, 2013;Henry et al, 2010;Malaspina et al, 1997).…”

“…Berger et al (2010) also specified that no form of psychopathology was present among first-degree relatives evaluated in their study. Findings from other studies have gone a step further and identified an attenuation effect between schizophrenia samples and first-degree relatives, whereby, relatives show a similar, but less pronounced, deficit in parasympathetic activity as compared to patients (B€ ar et al, 2009;Castro et al, 2009). Further, Castro et al (2009) identified a pattern of protracted stress response among first-degree relatives that was similar but less severe than that previously found among schizophrenia samples.…”

“…Findings from other studies have gone a step further and identified an attenuation effect between schizophrenia samples and first-degree relatives, whereby, relatives show a similar, but less pronounced, deficit in parasympathetic activity as compared to patients (B€ ar et al, 2009;Castro et al, 2009). Further, Castro et al (2009) identified a pattern of protracted stress response among first-degree relatives that was similar but less severe than that previously found among schizophrenia samples. Likewise, comparisons between offspring and siblings of individuals with schizophrenia have shown vagal tone deficits to be more pronounced in offspring (Bӓr et al, 2009).…”

Brain activation induced by psychological stress in patients with schizophrenia

“…Among such environmental factors, psychosocial stress is a major determinant in the onset and worsening of schizophrenia symptoms. For example, Myin-Germeys and van Os (2007) observed an increased emotional reactivity to daily stress in patients with schizophrenia and first-degree relatives, whereas Castro et al (2008Castro et al ( , 2009) demonstrated the presence of a cardiac autonomic response to acute mental stress which in contrast to healthy controls, was protracted beyond stressful stimulus cessation. These observations suggest that vulnerability to stress may be a trait marker of schizophrenia.…”