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Physiological signals conveyed by the vagus nerve may generate quiescent psychological states conducive to contemplative practices. This suggests that vagal neurostimulation could interact with contemplative psychotherapies (e.g. mindfulness and compassion-based interventions) to augment their efficacy.
Methods
In a fully factorial experimental trial, healthy adults (n = 120) were randomized to transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) plus Self-Compassion-Mental-Imagery Training (SC-MIT) or alternative factorial combinations of stimulation (tVNS or sham) plus mental imagery training (MIT: SC-MIT or Control-MIT). Primary outcomes were self-reported state self-compassion, self-criticism, and heart rate variability (HRV). Exploratory outcomes included state mindfulness and oculomotor attentional bias to compassion-expressing faces. Most outcomes were assessed acutely on session 1 at the pre-stimulation (T1), peri-stimulation (T2), and post-MIT + stimulation (T3) timepoints, and after daily stimulation+MIT sessions (eight sessions).
Results
During session 1, a significant Timepoint × Stimulation × MIT interaction (p = 0.025) was observed, reflecting a larger acute T1→T3 increase in state self-compassion after tVNS+SC-MIT, with similar rapid effects on state mindfulness. Additionally, significant Session × MIT and Session × Stimulation interactions (p ≤ 0.027) on state mindfulness (but not self-compassion) suggested that tVNS+SC-MIT’s effects may accumulate across sessions for some outcomes. By contrast, changes in state self-criticism and compassion-related attentional bias were only moderated by MIT (not stimulation) condition. HRV was unaffected by stimulation or MIT condition.
Conclusion
tVNS augmented the effects of SC-MIT and might, therefore, be a useful strategy for enhancing meditation-based psychotherapies. Our findings also highlight the value of oculomotor attentional metrics as responsive markers of self-compassion training and the continued need for sensitive indices of successful vagal stimulation.
Although social anxiety remains prevalent, conventional exposure therapy faces limitations such as limited accessibility, high cost, and low ecological validity. These barriers highlight the need for alternative, scalable methods that can effectively simulate social evaluative contexts.
Objective:
This study aims to evaluate the anxiety-inducing effects of videoconferencing exposure, measured through heart rate variability (HRV), using a fully online-based methodology.
Methods:
A total of 31 participants who reported social anxiety were recruited online and engaged in a simulated videoconference task, where they interacted with multiple audience members’ emotional faces on a 3 × 3 split screen. Their video recordings were analysed using imaging photoplethysmography to obtain HRV data. Baseline anxiety levels were assessed using validated self-report questionnaires, including the State Anxiety Scale (STAI-X1), Trait Anxiety Scale (STAI-X2), Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, and Social Phobia Scale.
Results:
Pearson correlation analysis revealed that STAI-X1 scores negatively correlated with high-frequency normalised units (HFnu) changes and positively correlated with low-frequency high-frequency (LF–HF) ratio and low-frequency normalised units (LFnu) changes. Similar patterns were observed for STAI-X2. These findings suggest that higher levels of trait and state anxiety are associated with greater reductions in parasympathetic activity and increased sympathetic activation during online videoconferencing.
Conclusions:
This study underscores the clinical potential of online videoconferencing as a scalable and accessible exposure therapy for the digital era, eliminating spatial and logistical constraints associated with traditional in-person exposure therapy.
Childhood maltreatment (CM) is a risk factor for mental and physical health problems in adulthood, potentially mediated by long-term autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysregulation. To explore this link, the association between CM and vagal-sensitive heart rate variability (HRV) metrics in adults was examined, accounting for biopsychosocial factors.
Methods
Data from 4,420 participants in the Study of Health in Pomerania were analyzed, with CM assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. HRV was derived from 10-second electrocardiograms and 5-minute pre-sleep polysomnographic recordings. Post hoc analyses examined abuse and neglect.
Results
CM was associated with reduced HRV (logRMSSD: β = −0.20 [95%-CI: −0.28, −0.12], p = 1.2e−06), driven by neglect (β = −0.27 [−0.35, −0.18], p = 1.9e−09) rather than abuse (β = 0.01 [−0.12, 0.14], p = 1). Adjustments for age, sex, and medication attenuated these effects, which remained robust after additionally controlling for socioeconomic, lifestyle, body mass index, and depressive symptoms (fully adjusted model: CM β = −0.08 [−0.15, −0.001], p = .047; neglect β = −0.11 [−0.19, −0.03], p = .009; abuse β = −0.08 [−0.20, −0.04], p = .174). Age-related differences were found, with reduced HRV in both young and older participants but not in middle-aged participants (fully adjusted: F(2,743) = 6.75, p = .001).
Conclusions
This study highlights long-term ANS dysregulation following CM, particularly neglect, indicated by altered vagal-sensitive HRV metrics. Although small in magnitude, the effect on the ANS was independent of adult biopsychosocial factors. This long-term dysregulation may contribute to an increased risk of adverse health outcomes in adulthood.
The most common cause of morbidity and mortality in type 1 diabetes mellitus is cardiovascular system involvement. Sudden death has been reported in type 1 diabetes mellitus patients. To analyse the use of the cardiac electrophysiological balance index in predicting ventricular arrhythmias in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus disease.
Methods:
One hundred type 1 diabetes mellitus paediatric patients and 100 healthy children, divided into three groups according to their haemoglobin A1C levels, were included in the study. All participants were evaluated with transthoracic echocardiography, 12-lead electrocardiography, and 24-h Holter after a detailed physical examination. Systolic and diastolic function parameters, electrocardiography intervals, and heart rate variability parameters were evaluated.
Results:
The mean age in the type 1 diabetes mellitus and control groups was 11.52 (± 3.52) and 11.78 (± 3.45) years, respectively. In total, 57% of the type 1 diabetes mellitus group and 56% of the control group were male. The mean haemoglobin A1C value was 9.14% (± 1.79) and the disease duration was 3.71 years (± 3.13). The type 1 diabetes mellitus group had a higher QTc duration, deceleration time duration, A velocity, and a lower E/A ratio than the control group. In the type 1 diabetes mellitus group, Tpe, Tpe/QT ratio, QTc/QRS ratio, Tpe/QRS ratio, Tpe/(QT × QRS) ratio values were significantly higher than in the control group.
Conclusion:
Children with type 1 diabetes mellitus are at risk for atrial and ventricular arrhythmias without valvular disease, ischemic heart disease, or diastolic dysfunction despite normal systolic function. No correlation was found between disease duration, metabolic control, autonomic function parameters, and arrhythmia risk; however, it was associated with diastolic function parameters.
Maternal perinatal mental health is essential for optimal brain development and mental health of the offspring. We evaluated whether maternal depression during the perinatal period and early life of the offspring might be selectively associated with altered brain function during emotion regulation and whether those may further correlate with physiological responses and the typical use of emotion regulation strategies.
Methods
Participants included 163 young adults (49% female, 28–30 years) from the ELSPAC prenatal birth cohort who took part in its neuroimaging follow-up and had complete mental health data from the perinatal period and early life. Maternal depressive symptoms were measured mid-pregnancy, 2 weeks, 6 months, and 18 months after birth. Regulation of negative affect was studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging, concurrent skin conductance response (SCR) and heart rate variability (HRV), and assessment of typical emotion regulation strategy.
Results
Maternal depression 2 weeks after birth interacted with sex and showed a relationship with greater brain response during emotion regulation in a right frontal cluster in women. Moreover, this brain response mediated the relationship between greater maternal depression 2 weeks after birth and greater suppression of emotions in young adult women (ab = 0.11, SE = 0.05, 95% CI [0.016; 0.226]). The altered brain response during emotion regulation and the typical emotion regulation strategy were also as sociated with SCR and HRV.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that maternal depression 2 weeks after birth predisposes female offspring to maladaptive emotion regulation skills and particularly to emotion suppression in young adulthood.
An accumulating body of evidence indicates that peripheral physiological rhythms help regulate and organize large-scale brain activity. Given that schizophrenia (SZ) is characterized by marked abnormalities in oscillatory cortical activity as well as changes in autonomic function, the present study aimed to identify mechanisms by which central and autonomic nervous system deficits may be related. We evaluated phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) as a physiological mechanism through which autonomic nervous system (ANS) and central nervous system (CNS) activity are integrated and that may be disrupted in SZ.
Methods
PAC was measured between high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) as an index of parasympathetic activity and electroencephalography (EEG) oscillations in 36 individuals with first-episode SZ and 38 healthy comparison participants at rest.
Results
HRV-EEG coupling was lower in SZ in the alpha and theta bands, and HRV-EEG coupling uniquely predicted group membership, whereas HRV and EEG power alone did not. HRV-EEG coupling in the alpha band correlated with measures of sustained attention in SZ. Granger causality analyses indicated a stronger heart-to-brain effect than brain-to-heart effect, consistent across groups.
Conclusions
Lower HRV-EEG coupling provides evidence of deficient autonomic regulation of cortical activity in SZ, suggesting that patterns of dysconnectivity observed in brain networks extend to brain–body interactions. Deficient ANS–CNS integration in SZ may foster a breakdown in the spatiotemporal organization of cortical activity, which may contribute to core cognitive impairments in SZ such as dysregulated attention. These findings encourage pursuit of therapies targeting autonomic function for the treatment of SZ.
This pilot 2-week, randomized controlled trial examined integrating digital storytelling (DST) with heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) to enhance psycho-emotional well-being of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) patients. HCT patients (N = 25; Mage = 51.9 years) were randomly assigned: (1) DST + HRVB intervention, or (2) DST-only control. Both groups viewed four emotionally-rich digital stories. The DST + HRVB group practiced HRVB at home for ten minutes/day. DST + HRVB participants decreased anger, depression, fatigue (d = 0.53) and increased emotional processing (d = 0.20), and HRV-assessed autonomic nervous system balance (3.5 vs. 0.9). This study supports feasibility of integrating DST with HRVB, and effect sizes indicate superiority of combining DST with HRVB.
Accumulating evidence suggests that rapid eye movement sleep (REM) supports the consolidation of extinction memory. REM is disrupted in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and REM abnormalities after traumatic events increase the risk of developing PTSD. Therefore, it was hypothesized that abnormal REM in trauma-exposed individuals may pave the way for PTSD by interfering with the processing of extinction memory. In addition, PTSD patients display reduced vagal activity. Vagal activity contributes to the strengthening of memories, including fear extinction memory, and recent studies show that the role of vagus in memory processing extends to memory consolidation during sleep. Therefore, it is plausible that reduced vagal activity during sleep in trauma-exposed individuals may be an additional mechanism that impairs extinction memory consolidation. However, to date, the contribution of sleep vagal activity to the consolidation of extinction memory or any emotional memory has not been investigated.
Methods
Trauma-exposed individuals (n = 113) underwent a 2-day fear conditioning and extinction protocol. Conditioning and extinction learning phases were followed by extinction recall 24 h later. The association of extinction recall with REM characteristics and REM vagal activity (indexed as heart rate variability) during the intervening consolidation night was examined.
Results
Consistent with our hypotheses, REM disruption was associated with poorer physiological and explicit extinction memory. Furthermore, higher vagal activity during REM was associated with better explicit extinction memory, and physiological extinction memory in males.
Conclusions
These findings support the notion that abnormal REM, including reduced REM vagal activity, may contribute to PTSD by impairing the consolidation of extinction memory.
Terrorism and trauma survivors often experience changes in biomarkers of autonomic, inflammatory and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis assessed at various times. Research suggests interactions of these systems in chronic stress.
Study Objective:
This unprecedented retrospective study explores long-term stress biomarkers in three systems in terrorism survivors.
Methods:
Sixty healthy, direct terrorism survivors were compared to non-exposed community members for cardiovascular reactivity to a trauma script, morning salivary cortisol, interleukin 1-β (IL-1β), and interleukin 2-R (IL-2R). Survivors’ biomarkers were correlated with psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses and reported functioning and well-being seven years after the Oklahoma City (OKC) bombing.
Main outcome measures were the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) Disaster Supplement for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) diagnoses, Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Distress and Functioning Scale (DAF), and General Physical Well-Being Scale.
Results:
Survivors had higher inflammatory IL-1β, lower anti-inflammatory IL-2R, lower cortisol, higher resting diastolic blood pressure (BP), and less cardiovascular reactivity to a trauma script than comparisons. Survivors’ mean posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptom levels did not differ from comparisons, but survivors reported worse well-being. None of survivors’ biomarkers correlated with PTS or depressive symptoms or diagnoses or reported functioning.
Conclusions:
Alterations of biological stress measures in cardiovascular, inflammatory, and cortisol systems coexisted as an apparent generalized long-term response to terrorism rather than related to specific gauges of mental health. Potential interactions of biomarkers long after trauma exposure is discussed considering relevant research. Longer-term follow-up could determine whether biomarkers continue to differ or correlate with subjective measures, or if they accompany health problems over time. Given recent international terrorism, understanding long-term sequelae among direct survivors is increasingly relevant.
Familial Mediterranean fever is an autosomal recessive autoinflammatory inherited disease. We aimed to evaluate cardiac involvement in children with familial Mediterranean fever during the attack-free period.
Material and Methods:
The prospective study included 75 familial Mediterranean fever patients during the attack-free period and 50 healthy children. Cardiac evaluation was performed using electrocardiography, 24-hour ambulatory Holter monitoring, and conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography. Aortic stiffness indices were calculated.
Results:
There were no differences between the groups in age, height, sex, body mass index, and arterial blood pressure parameters (p > 0.05). QT and corrected QT dispersion parameters were similar in both groups (p > 0.05). The E wave velocity and the E/A ratio of the mitral and tricuspid valves decreased, and the A wave velocity of the tricuspid and mitral valve increased in familial Mediterranean fever by the Doppler echocardiography (p < 0.05). The myocardial contraction velocities (Sd), early relaxation velocity (Ed), and Ed/late relaxation velocity (Ad) of both ventricles were decreased in familial Mediterranean fever group, whereas the Ad of both ventricles and the interventricular septum was increased in familial Mediterranean fever group. Aortic strain and distensibility were decreased, and pressure strain elastic modules (Ep), pressure strain normalised (Ep*) by diastolic pressure, and aortic stiffness β index were increased in familial Mediterranean fever patients (p < 0.05). When time domain heart rate variability parameters were evaluated, SDNN-i, RMSSD, and PNN50 significantly decreased in familial Mediterranean fever patients (p < 0.05), whereas SDNN and SDANN were similar in both groups (p > 0.05).
Conclusion:
Our findings showed that cardiac involvement could exist in familial Mediterranean fever patients, even during nonattack periods.
In pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome and isolated viral myocarditis/myopericarditis, autonomic nervous system function can be evaluated by a non-invasive method called heart rate variability. This study aims to evaluate heart rate variability in these two groups by comparing them with each other. This is the first study assessing these values in these two groups of patients.
Method:
Patients who are diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children and isolated viral myocarditis/myopericarditis at a university hospital from September 2021 to February 2023 are screened by electrocardiography, echocardiography, and 24-hour Holter monitoring. A healthy control group, compatible in age and gender with the patient groups, was selected from healthy subjects that applied to the hospital for palpitation, murmur, and/or chest pain. Heart rate variability parameters and related laboratory markers were analyzed and compared among the three groups.
Results:
There were 30 patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, 43 patients with isolated viral myocarditis/myopericarditis, and 109 participants in the healthy control group. Statistically significant differences were found in most of the heart rate variability parameters: standard deviation of normal to normal intervals (SDNN), the mean of the 5- minute RR interval standard deviations (SDNNİ), the standard deviation of 5-minute R wave to R wave(RR) interval means (SDANN), the root mean square of successive RR interval differences (RMSSD), and the percentage of the beats with a consecutive RR interval difference of more than 50 ms (pNN50%), very low frequency, high frequency, low frequency, triangular index, and low frequency/high-frequency ratio. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children patients had impaired and declined heart rate variability values compared to the other two groups. In patients with myocarditis/myopericarditis, we couldn’t find a significant difference in these parameters with the control group.
Conclusion:
Heart rate variability can be used as an important non-invasive autonomic function parameter in determining prognosis and treatment plans, especially in patients diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. This impairment of autonomic activity could be more prominent in patients with decreased left ventricular systolic functions.
In natural settings, newborn calves hide for several days before joining the herd. It is unclear whether dairy calves housed indoors would show similar hiding behaviour. This study aimed to describe the use of an artificial hide provided to calves during temporary separation from the dam and assess the effect it has on lying and sleep-like behaviour, as well as heart rate variability (HRV). Twenty-eight cow-calf pairs were randomly assigned to having a hide (n = 14), or no hide (n = 14). Hide use (n = 14), as well as lying and sleep-like behaviour (n = 28), were recorded continuously via video camera during the first hour after the dam was removed for morning milking on day three to seven. Heart rate and R-R intervals were recorded using Polar equine monitors for a subsample of 12 calves (n = 6 per treatment) on day six. Descriptive statistics were calculated for hide use. Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests were used to evaluate whether having a hide affected lying and sleep-like behaviours as well as HRV. Hide use decreased over days and was highly variable between calves. Lying behaviour did not differ between treatments. Duration of sleep-like behaviour was higher for calves without a hide compared to those with a hide. Calves with a hide tended to show signs of higher HRV and parasympathetic activity compared to calves without a hide. Results suggest that providing a hiding space to young calves may be beneficial during periods when the cow is removed from the pen for milking.
For more than 2 years, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has forced worldwide health care systems to adapt their daily practice. These adaptations add to the already stressful demands of providing timely medical care in an overcrowded health care system. Specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic added stress to an already overwhelmed emergency and critical care health care workers (HCWs) on the front lines during the first wave of the pandemic.
This study assessed comparative subjective and objective stress among frontline HCWs using a visual analog scale and biometric data, specifically heart rate variability (HRV).
Methods:
This is a prospective, observational study using surveys and heart rate monitoring among HCWs who work in 3 frontline health care units (emergency department, mobile intensive care unit, and intensive care unit) in the University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand, France. Two sessions were performed: 1 during the first wave of the pandemic (April 10 to May 10, 2020) and 1 after the first wave of the pandemic (June 10 to July 15, 2020).
The primary outcome is the difference in stress levels between the 2 time points. Secondary objectives were the impact of overcrowding, sociodemographics, and other variables on stress levels. We also assessed the correlation between subjective and objective stress levels.
Results:
Among 199 HCWs, 98 participated in biometric monitoring, 84 had biometric and survey data, and 12 with only biometric data. Subjective stress was higher during the second time point compared to the first (4.39 ± 2.11 vs 3.16 ± 2.34, P = 0.23). There were higher objective stress levels with a decrease in HRV between the first and the second time points. Furthermore, we found higher patient volumes as a source of stress during the second time point. We did not find any significant correlation between subjective and objective stress levels.
Conclusion:
HCWs had higher stress levels between the 2 waves of the pandemic. Overcrowding in the emergency department is associated with higher stress levels. We did not find any correlation between subjective and objective stress among intensive care and emergency HCWs during the first wave of the pandemic.
We aimed to assess cardiac autonomic balance with heart rate variability by using 24-hour Holter electrocardiography and also to assess susceptibility to ventricular arrhythmias by using microvolt T wave alternance in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Method:
This study was conducted with age- and gender-matched groups of 40 patients taking long-acting methylphenidate for more than a year and 55 healthy controls. Heart rate variability analysis for cardiac autonomic functions and microvolt T wave alternance measurements for susceptibility to ventricular arrhythmias were evaluated by 24-hour Holter electrocardiography.
Results:
The mean age 10.9 ± 2.7 years, mean duration of therapy 22.76 months, and mean methylphenidate doses were 37.64 mg/day. The study group had considerably higher rMSSD, higher HF, and a lower LF/HF ratio (respectively, p : 0.02, p : 0.001 and p : 0.01). While parasympathetic activity parameters were elevated, sympathetic activity parameters were low during the sleep period. Increase in the microvolt T wave alternance values of the study group was not found to be statistically significant (p > 0.05).
Conclusion:
In children taking long-acting methylphenidate, the autonomic balance was shown to be in favour of the parasympathetic system. Determination of the vulnerability to life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias has been evaluated for the first time in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Accordingly, microvolt T-wave alternance values give the notion that drug use is safe.
Previous studies have demonstrated the use of virtual reality (VR) in mass-casualty incident (MCI) simulation; however, it is uncertain if VR simulations can be a substitute for in-person disaster training. Demonstrating that VR MCI scenarios can elicit the same desired stress response achieved in live-action exercises is a first step in showing non-inferiority. The primary objective of this study was to measure changes in sympathetic nervous system (SNS) response via a decrease in heart rate variability (HRV) in subjects participating in a VR MCI scenario.
Methods:
An MCI simulation was filmed with a 360º camera and shown to participants on a VR headset while simultaneously recording electrocardiography (EKG) and HRV activity. Baseline HRV was measured during a calm VR scenario immediately prior to exposure to the MCI scenarios, and SNS activation was captured as a decrease in HRV compared to baseline. Cognitive stress was measured using a validated questionnaire. Wilcoxon matched pairs signed rank analysis, Welch’s t-test, and multivariate logistic regression were performed with statistical significance established at P <.05.
Results:
Thirty-five subjects were enrolled: eight attending physicians (two surgeons, six Emergency Medicine [EM] specialists); 13 residents (five Surgery, eight EM); and 14 medical students (six pre-clinical, eight clinical-year students). Sympathetic nervous system activation was observed in all groups during the MCI compared to baseline (P <.0001) and occurred independent of age, sex, years of experience, or prior MCI response experience. Overall, 23/35 subjects (65.7%) reported increased cognitive stress in the MCI (11/14 medical students, 9/13 residents, and 3/8 attendings). Resident and attending physicians had higher odds of discordance between SNS activation and cognitive stress compared to medical students (OR = 8.297; 95% CI, 1.408-64.60; P = .030).
Conclusions:
Live-actor VR MCI simulation elicited a strong sympathetic response across all groups. Thus, VR MCI training has the potential to guide acquisition of confidence in disaster response.
Infra-red thermography (IRT) is a non-invasive tool for measuring eye temperature as an indicator of stress and welfare in animals. Previous studies state that images are taken from 90° but do not specify a reference point or method of standardisation. The aims of the current study were to determine whether the position of the IRT camera has an impact on recorded temperature and which camera position is optimal for indicating stress in a mammal with anterolateral eyes. IRT images were taken from 90° to the nasal plane, eye and sagittal plane on the left side of the horses’ faces (n = 14) at eye level before and after exposure to a novel object. Distance and angle of measurement was standardised using ground markers. Temperature at each point of measurement was compared against heart rate variability. A significant difference was found between recorded temperature at all three of the points of measurement, both before and after the novel object test, suggesting that IRT camera position has an impact on eye temperature results. There was a significant strong positive correlation between eye temperature taken from 90° to the sagittal plane and heart rate variability, but no such correlation was observed from 90° to the nasal plane or eye. This suggests that a 90° angle in relation to the sagittal plane is the optimal position for taking eye temperature measurements using IRT, whereas 90° to the eye is commonly used. This study offers a validated protocol for using IRT to measure stress and welfare in mammals with anterolateral eyes.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether linear and non-linear measures of heart rate variability (HRV) could be used as indicators of piglet castration pain. Thirty piglets were allocated to 1 of 4 treatments: i) sham castrated HRV (SHRV; n = 8); ii) surgical castrated HRV (CHRV; n = 7); iii) sham castrated blood collection (SBC; n = 7); or iv) surgical castrated blood collection (CBC; n = 8). Piglets in the SHRV and CHRV treatment groups underwent a 1-h HRV and postural behaviour evaluation on day-1, day 0 (castration treatment), day 1 and day 3 of the experimental procedure. Piglets in the SBC and CBC groups underwent blood collection for serum cortisol analysis at -0.5, 1, 2, 3, 24, 48 and 72 h relative to castration treatment. Castrated piglets (CHRV) exhibited greater low to high frequency ratio, lower sample entropy and greater percent determinism compared to SHRV piglets, indicating greater pain-related stress due to the surgical castration procedure. Serum cortisol was greater in CBC pigs at 1 h post-castration compared to SBC piglets. No effect of treatment was found for amount of time spent lying post-castration. In conclusion, surgically castrated pigs exhibited greater pain-related stress than their sham castrated counterparts. Additionally, non-linear HRV measures seem to complement traditional linear HRV measures and may be valuable for assessing pain-related stress in future studies investigating swine welfare.
The integration of virtual reality into everyday life is changing sociocultural practices, including those related to cyberaggression, which causes negative consequences for mental health and well-being. Particular attention needs to be paid to the poorly researched but widespread roles of bystanders and defenders in cyberaggression (Machackova, 2020; Polanco-Levican, Salvo-Garrido, 2021).
Objectives
The aim is to study the behavioral witness strategies in cyberaggression in VR and their relation to personal and psychophysiological characteristics.
Methods
50 adolescents aged 14-18 years old (50% female) witnessed cyberaggression in an experimental situation in the virtual space of VR-chat. Participants also filled Ten-Item Personality Inventory (Gosling et al., 2003; Egorova, Parshikova, 2016), I7-Impulsiveness (Eysenck, Eysenck, 1985; Kornilova, Dolnikova, 2011), Prosocial Behaviour (Furmanov, Kuhtova, 1998). To determine the functional state Heart rate variability (UPTF 1/30 Psychophysiologist, Mediсom) was measured before and after the experiment.
Results
Behavioral strategies in VR-aggression were divided into uninvolved bystanders (58%) and defenders (42%). All participants experienced stress and functional state decline when faced with cyberaggression, but the defenders were more affected (U=207, p<0.043). Defenders were more likely to have higher social responsibility (U=207, p<0.056) and lower neuroticism (U=208, p<0.054). There were no significant differences in impulsiveness.
Conclusions
Cyberaggression in a virtual environment is stressful, especially for active defenders, who are more included in the situation compared to passive bystanders. The prosocial role of a defender rather than a passive bystander may be related to such characteristics as social responsibility and emotional stability, but not to impulsiveness. The research was supported by RSF (project No. 18-18-00365)
Disclosure
This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project # 18-18-00365.
Interpersonal distance regulation is an essential element of social communication. Its impairment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is widely acknowledged among practitioners, but only a handful of studies reported empirical research. However, these studies did not measure the alterations of vegetative functions related to interpersonal distance.
Objectives
We introduced a new experimental design to systematically measure interpersonal distance along with heart rate variability (HRV) in adults with ASD and tested the modulatory effect of intentionality, eye contact, moving activity, and attribution.
Methods
Twenty-two adults diagnosed with ASD and 21 matched neurotypical controls participated in our study from 2019 October to 2020 February. Our new experimental design combined the modified version of the stop distance paradigm with HRV measurement controlling for eye contact between the experimenter and the participant to measure interpersonal distance in incidental and intentional conditions.
Results
Our results showed greater preferred distance in ASD in the intentional (W=103, p=0.002) but not in the incidental condition. These results were altered with eye contact and the participant’s role (active vs. passive) in the stop distance task (F(1,41)=6.150, p=0.017). Moreover, we found lower baseline HRV (t=-2.060, p=0.023) and reduced HRV reactivity in ASD; however, these vegetative measurements could not predict preferred interpersonal distance.
Conclusions
Our study highlights the importance of interpersonal distance regulation in ASD and the need for comprehensive experimental designs to grasp the complexity and underlying factors of distance regulation in typical and atypical populations.
In nightmare disorder, dysfunctional emotion regulation goes along with poor subjective sleep quality, which is characterised by pathophysiological features such as abnormal arousal processes and sympathetic influences. Dysfunctional parasympathetic regulation, especially before and during REM phases, is assumed to alter heart rate (HR) and its variability (HRV) of frequent nightmare recallers.
Objectives
We hypothesised that cardiac variability is attenuated in participants experiencing frequent nightmares as opposed to healthy control subjects during less deep sleep stages and an emotion-evoking picture-rating task.
Methods
Based on the second-nights’ polysomnographic recordings of 24 nightmare disordered (NM) and 30 control (CTL) subjects, we examined HRV during pre-REM, REM, post-REM and slow wave sleep periods, separately. Additionally, ECG recordings of wakeful periods such as resting state before sleep onset and an emotional picture-rating task were also analysed.
Results
According to our results, a significant difference was found in the HR of the NM and CTL groups in the nocturnal segments but not during resting wakefulness before sleep onset, suggesting autonomic dysregulation, specifically during sleep in nightmare disorder. However, despite the accelerated HR of NM subjects at night, they did not exhibit lower HRV. Regarding the emotional task, we also found a contrast between the NM and CTL subjects’ HR and HRV, which might indicate altered processes of emotion regulation in nightmare disorder, but the two groups’ subjective picture ratings did not differ.
Conclusions
In summary, our study suggests that there might be some trait-like autonomic changes during sleep, but also state-like autonomic responses to emotion-evoking pictures in nightmare disorder.