Reduction of depressive symptoms during inpatient treatment is not associated with changes in heart rate variability

Abstract

Vagally mediated heart rate variability (HRV) is a psychophysiological indicator of mental and physical health. Limited research suggests there is reduced vagal activity and resulting lower HRV in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD); however little is actually known about the association between HRV and symptoms of depression and whether the association mirrors symptom improvement following psychotherapy. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between antidepressant therapy, symptom change and HRV in 50 inpatients (68% females; 17–68 years) with a diagnosis of MDD. Severity of depressive symptoms was assessed by self-report (Beck Depression Inventory II) and the Hamilton Rating Scale of Depression. Measures of vagally mediated HRV (root mean square of successive differences and high-frequency) were assessed at multiple measurement points before and after inpatient psychotherapeutic and psychiatric treatment. Results showed an expected negative correlation between HRV and depressive symptoms at intake. Depressive symptoms improved (d = 0.84) without corresponding change in HRV, demonstrating a de-coupling between this psychophysiological indicator and symptom severity. To our knowledge, this study is the first to examine an association between HRV and depressive symptoms before and after psychotherapy. The observed de-coupling of depression and HRV, and its methodological implications for future research are discussed.

Neurophysiological and emotional influences on team communication and metacognitive cyber situational awareness during a cyber engineering exercise

“…The present study goes some length in achieving this, however, future studies should use an intervention design where some participants are trained in explicitly applying the model. While the vagal tone is considered a stable trait that is hard to change with intervention (e.g., Brunoni et al, 2013b ; Wheeler et al, 2014 ; Neyer et al, 2021 ), metacognition is something that can be trained (Jøsok et al, 2016 ; Fleur et al, 2021 ). Thus, it would be both interesting and necessary to assess whether individuals who are trained in applying the OLB model but have low vagal tones perform better than individuals who are not trained in using the model but have high vagal tones.…”

Digital Phenotyping for Differential Diagnosis of Major Depressive Episode: Narrative Review

“…By contrast, Sarlon et al [ 50 ] found no association between HRV and depressive symptoms severity. Neyer et al [ 49 ] showed in a prospective study with HRV measures before and after treatment that depressive symptoms improved without change in HRV, suggesting a more complex relationship.…”

Neurophysiological and Emotional Influences on Team Communication and Metacognitive Cyber Situational Awareness During a Cyber Engineering Exercise

“…While vagal tone is considered a stable trait that is hard to change with intervention (e.g. Brunoni et al, 2013b;Neyer et al, 2021;Wheeler et al, 2014), metacognition is something that can be trained (Fleur et al, 2021;Jøsok et al, 2016). Thus, it would be both interesting and necessary to assess whether individuals who are trained in applying the OLB model but have low vagal tone perform better than individuals who are not trained in using the model but have high vagal tone.…”