Quantitative meta-analysis of heart rate variability finds reduced parasympathetic cardiac tone in women compared to men during laboratory-based social stress

Hamidovic, Ajna; Hedger, Kathryne Van; Choi, So Hee; Flowers, Stephanie A.; Wardle, Margaret C.; Childs, Emma

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.04.005

Cited by 32 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…The researchers did not report differences in the baseline state (without stress), but these differences could not be detected due to the age range (18-60 years) and the length of the records used. We believe that we are measuring a baseline state, the one that was not detected in [16].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, this alteration seems to occur at high frequencies because β values, which are determined at low frequencies, do not depend on gender (see below). Studies in [16] reported sex-differences in the HRV under stress. The authors suggested that men and women have different autonomic "strategies" for dealing with stress, such that men rely more on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation, and women on parasympathetic withdrawal.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was reported that autonomic activities diminish with age in both genders and that gender-related variation in parasympathetic regulation decreases after the age of 50 years [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. The hormonal influence on autonomic activity was analysed in [15][16][17][18][19][20]. Some investigators found that cardiac vagal activity declined during the luteal phase, and others reported that no changes in cardiovascular autonomic control occurred during the menstrual cycle of healthy fertile women.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effect of age on the heart rate variability of healthy subjects

Garavaglia

Gulich

Defeo³

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

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In this work we study the characteristics of heart rate variability (HRV) as a function of age and gender. Our analysis covers a wider age range than that studied so far. It includes results previously reported in the literature and reveals behaviours not reported before. We can establish basic scale relationships in different HRV measurements. The mean value of the RR intervals shows a power-law behaviour independent of gender. Magnitudes such as the standard deviation or pNN50 show abrupt changes at around the age of 12 years, and above that age they show gender dependence, which mainly affects short-time (or high frequency) scales. We present a unified analysis for the calculation of the non-linear α and β parameters. Both parameters depend on age; they increase in the extremes of life and reach a minimum at around one year of age. These gender-independent changes occur at low frequencies and in scale ranges that depend on age. The results obtained in this work are discussed in terms of the effects of basal metabolic rate, hormonal regulation, and neuronal activity on heart rate variability. This work finally discusses how these findings influence the interpretation of HRV measurements from records of different lengths.

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Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effect of age on the heart rate variability of healthy subjects

Garavaglia

Gulich

Defeo³

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…This suggests that gender differences may persist across task demanding conditions. However, future research should continue to explore the impact of gender on the brain's response to stress, given that a number of studies have reported gender differences in the response to acute stress (e.g., Hamidovic et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevations in EEG Power Spectra During the Recall of Sport Failure Amongst University Athletes

Ceccarelli¹,

Rj²

2020

Preprint

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Previously, we showed that university athletes demonstrate cardiac reactivity resembling an acute stress response while recalling a previous sport failure. Athletes who reported higher levels of self- compassion showed greater elevation of parasympathetic nervous system reactivity during recall of failure, and also showed more adaptive behavioural reactions, less maladaptive thoughts, and less negative affect during the task. Here, we analyzed changes in power spectra of the electroencephalogram (EEG) before, during, and after the recall of a previous sports failure, and whether individual differences in self-compassion or related constructs impact EEG changes during recall. Significant reactivity to, and recovery from, the recall task was observed across all EEG bandwidths: delta power decreased, and theta, low alpha, high alpha, low beta, and high beta power all increased from baseline to recall. Analogous EEG power changes were observed during recovery: delta power increased, while theta, low alpha, high alpha, low beta, and high beta power all decreased to baseline levels. Large gender differences were observed, with females generally showing greater EEG power across bandwidths during all phases of the experiment. Higher levels of self-compassion were associated with reduced theta power at baseline and during the recovery phase. Reactivity and recovery scores of EEG power were associated with self-reported self-esteem in the low alpha band: individuals reporting higher self-esteem showed greater increases in low alpha power during the recall task and greater decreases in low alpha power during recovery. These results are amongst the first to examine EEG power changes during experiences of acute stress and may have implications for improving how athletes recover from failures in sporting events.

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“…Apart from task conditions, cardiac recovery also seems to be sensitive to individual characteristics. The literature suggests fitness, age, ethnicity, and (although with somewhat mixed findings) gender might have an important influence on cardiovascular recovery dynamics (e.g., Carillo et al., 2001; Carter et al., 2001; Dorr et al., 2007; Fichera & Anreassi, 2000; Forcier et al., 2006; Girdler & Turner, 1990; Hamidovic et al., 2020; Kudielka et al., 2004; Lash et al., 1991; Stoney, Davis, & Matthiews, 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cardiac sympathetic activity during recovery as an indicator of sympathetic activity during task performance

2020

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The goals of this research were to analyze cardiac sympathetic recovery patterns and evaluate whether sympathetic cardiac responses to a task challenge can be predicted using residual cardiac activity measured directly after the task (that is, during the recovery period). In two studies (total N = 181), we measured cardiac sympathetic activity, quantified as pre‐ejection period and RB interval, during both task performance and the 2‐min recovery period following the task. Additional analyses examined effects on the RZ interval. We found that sympathetic recovery from a task was rather quick: Cardiovascular recovery occurred within the first 30 s of the recovery period. Nevertheless, residual cardiac activity during the recovery period had predictive power for task‐related cardiac activity. This suggests that sympathetic cardiac activity during recovery may serve as a useful indicator of task‐related cardiac sympathetic activity. We discuss the implications of these findings for practical applications and the design of future studies.

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Quantitative meta-analysis of heart rate variability finds reduced parasympathetic cardiac tone in women compared to men during laboratory-based social stress

Cited by 32 publications

References 60 publications

The effect of age on the heart rate variability of healthy subjects

The effect of age on the heart rate variability of healthy subjects

Elevations in EEG Power Spectra During the Recall of Sport Failure Amongst University Athletes

Cardiac sympathetic activity during recovery as an indicator of sympathetic activity during task performance

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