The link between resting heart rate variability and affective flexibility

Grol, Maud; Raedt, Rudi De

doi:10.3758/s13415-020-00800-w

Cited by 39 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(113 reference statements)

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“…Notably, the sensitivity to suffering is an essential attribute of compassion that involves being responsive to one's own suffering or to other people's emotions (rather than activate defense mechanisms and avoidance), and perceiving when they need help (Gilbert, 2019). Consistently, recent findings show that a more efficient shifting of attention from affective to non-affective aspects of negative information was related to lower resting vmHRV (Grol and De Raedt, 2020). In a compassionate approach, this may facilitate emotional pain awareness, and subsequent decisions for helpful actions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Compassion Is Not a Benzo: Distinctive Associations of Heart Rate Variability With Its Empathic and Action Components

2021

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Recent studies have linked compassion with higher vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV), a measure of parasympathetic activity, and meta-analytic evidence confirmed significant and positive associations. Compassion, however, is not to be confused with soothing positive emotions: in order to engage in actions aimed to alleviate (self or others) suffering, the pain should resonate, and empathic sensitivity should be experienced first. The present study examined the association between vmHRV and the empathic sensitivity and action components of trait and state compassion. To do so, several dispositional questionnaires were administered and two videos inducing empathic sensitivity (video 1) and compassionate actions (video 2) were shown, while the ECG was continuously recorded, and momentary affect was assessed. Results showed that (i) scores on subscales assessing the empathic component of trait compassion were inversely related to resting vmHRV; (ii) vmHRV decreased after video 1 but significantly increased after video 2. As to momentary affect, video 1 was accompanied with an increase in sadness and a decrease in positive affect, whereas video 2 was characterized by an increase in anger, a parallel decrease in sadness, and an increase (although non-significant) in positive affect. Overall, present findings support the notion that it is simplistic to link compassion with higher vmHRV. Compassion encompasses increased sensitivity to emotional pain, which is naturally associated with lower vmHRV, and action to alleviate others’ suffering, which is ultimately associated with increased vmHRV. The importance of adopting a nuanced perspective on the complex physiological regulation that underlies compassionate responding to suffering is discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Compassion Is Not a Benzo: Distinctive Associations of Heart Rate Variability With Its Empathic and Action Components

2021

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“…Theoretical models of neurovisceral integration suggest a link between cardiac bottom-up and cerebral top-down controlled processing ( Park and Thayer, 2014 ; Grol and De Raedt, 2020 ). Viewed from the perspective of the neurovisceral integration model, any intervention that triggers a coupling between heart, brain and mind should lead to neural activity changes in tightly intertwined brain networks thereby facilitating both, cognitively more flexible processing and physically better adaptability to certain tasks and stressors including emotional stimuli.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Yoga Boost Access to the Bodily and Emotional Self? Changes in Heart Rate Variability and in Affective Evaluation Before, During and After a Single Session of Yoga Exercise With and Without Instructions of Controlled Breathing and Mindful Body Awareness in Young Healthy Women

Herbert

2021

Front. Psychol.

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Exercise is indispensable for a healthy lifestyle. Yoga exercise can have positive effects on well-being and on cardiac autonomic activity making it an ideal intervention for improving mind-body interactions and resilience to physical and mental stressors. Emotions trigger especially strong bodily and affective-cognitive responses because of their social relevance for the self and their biological relevance of mobilizing the organism for action. This study investigates whether changes in emotion processing related to self-other referential processing and changes in cardiac autonomic activity, reflected by heart rate variability (HRV), occur immediately after already a single session of yoga exercise when yoga postures are practiced with or without breathing- and mindful body awareness instructions. Women, all university students (N = 34, final sample: n = 30, n = 25 naïve to yoga practice) were randomly assigned to two experimental groups who performed the same yoga exercises with or without controlled breathing and mindfulness instructions. Emotional, self-other referential processing, awareness of bodily signals and HRV indicators were investigated before and after the exercise using standardized experimental tasks, standardized questionnaires, and mobile recording devices. Exercising for 30 minutes changed cardiac activity significantly. HRV measures showed adaptability of cardiac activity during the exercise as well as during the affective task post- to pre-exercise. Exercising with breathing instructions and mindful body awareness had no superior effects on cardiac, particularly parasympathetic activity, compared to practicing the same movements without such explicit instructions. Self-referential processing did not change; however, participants were faster and more accurate in their affective judgments of emotional stimuli [regardless of their reference (self/other)], and showed better awareness of bodily signals after compared to before the exercise session. The results support immediate, adaptive effects of yoga exercise on cardiac and affective-cognitive processing in an all-female healthy sample. Therefore, yoga exercise could be recommended as a physical activity for boosting cardiac and emotional resilience in this target group.

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“…Thus, reduced vagal tone could reflect the activity of OFC and mPFC, which are associated with cognitive control in relation to suicide attempt (33). Prior studies have demonstrated the association between vagally-mediated resting state HRV and cognitive (34) and affective flexibility (35). Cognitive inflexibility can lead to suicidal behavior during a crisis, in which patients consider suicide the only way to escape their current distress (36).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association of Resting Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability With Proximal Suicidal Risk in Patients With Diverse Psychiatric Diagnoses

et al. 2021

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Objectively measurable biomarkers have not been applied for suicide risk prediction. Resting heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) showed potential as trans-diagnostic markers associated with suicide. This study aimed to investigate the associations of resting HR and HRV on proximal suicide risk in patients with diverse psychiatric diagnoses. This chart review study used the medical records of psychiatric patients who visited the outpatient clinic at an academic tertiary hospital. A total of 1,461 patients with diverse psychiatric diagnoses was included in the analysis. Proximal suicide risk was measured using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) suicidal score. Linear regression analyses with the MINI suicidal score as a dependent variable and binary logistic regression analyses with moderate-to-high suicide risk (MINI suicidal risk score ≥6) as a dependent variable were conducted to explore the effects of resting HR and HRV parameters on acute suicide risk after adjusting for age, sex, presence of major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD), severity of depression and anxiety severity. We found that 55 (34.6%) patients in the MDD group, 40 (41.7%) in the BD group and 36 (3.9%) in the others group reported moderate-to-high suicide risk. Linear regression analysis revealed that both resting HR and root-mean-square of successive difference (RMSSD) had significant associations with the MINI suicidal score (P = 0.037 with HR, P = 0.003 with RMSSD). In logistic regression, only RMSSD showed a significant association with moderate-to-high suicide risk (P = 0.098 with HR, P = 0.019 with RMSSD), which remained significant in subgroup analysis with patients who reported any suicide-related symptom (MINI suicidal score >0; n = 472; P = 0.017 with HR, P = 0.012 with RMSSD). Our study findings suggest the potential for resting HR and RMSSD as biomarkers for proximal suicide risk prediction. Further research with longitudinal evaluation is needed to confirm our study findings.

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The link between resting heart rate variability and affective flexibility

Cited by 39 publications

References 45 publications

Compassion Is Not a Benzo: Distinctive Associations of Heart Rate Variability With Its Empathic and Action Components

Compassion Is Not a Benzo: Distinctive Associations of Heart Rate Variability With Its Empathic and Action Components

Can Yoga Boost Access to the Bodily and Emotional Self? Changes in Heart Rate Variability and in Affective Evaluation Before, During and After a Single Session of Yoga Exercise With and Without Instructions of Controlled Breathing and Mindful Body Awareness in Young Healthy Women

Association of Resting Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability With Proximal Suicidal Risk in Patients With Diverse Psychiatric Diagnoses

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