| 1. |
- Koenig, Julian, et al.
(author)
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Cortical thickness and resting-state cardiac function across the lifespan : A cross-sectional pooled mega-analysis
- 2021
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In: Psychophysiology. - : Wiley. - 0048-5772 .- 1469-8986 .- 1540-5958. ; 58:7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding the association between autonomic nervous system [ANS] function and brain morphology across the lifespan provides important insights into neurovisceral mechanisms underlying health and disease. Resting-state ANS activity, indexed by measures of heart rate [HR] and its variability [HRV] has been associated with brain morphology, particularly cortical thickness [CT]. While findings have been mixed regarding the anatomical distribution and direction of the associations, these inconsistencies may be due to sex and age differences in HR/HRV and CT. Previous studies have been limited by small sample sizes, which impede the assessment of sex differences and aging effects on the association between ANS function and CT. To overcome these limitations, 20 groups worldwide contributed data collected under similar protocols of CT assessment and HR/HRV recording to be pooled in a mega-analysis (N = 1,218 (50.5% female), mean age 36.7 years (range: 12–87)). Findings suggest a decline in HRV as well as CT with increasing age. CT, particularly in the orbitofrontal cortex, explained additional variance in HRV, beyond the effects of aging. This pattern of results may suggest that the decline in HRV with increasing age is related to a decline in orbitofrontal CT. These effects were independent of sex and specific to HRV; with no significant association between CT and HR. Greater CT across the adult lifespan may be vital for the maintenance of healthy cardiac regulation via the ANS—or greater cardiac vagal activity as indirectly reflected in HRV may slow brain atrophy. Findings reveal an important association between CT and cardiac parasympathetic activity with implications for healthy aging and longevity that should be studied further in longitudinal research.
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| 2. |
- Koenig, Julian, et al.
(author)
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Music listening has no positive or negative effects on sleep quality of normal sleepers : Results of a randomized controlled trial
- 2013
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In: Nordic journal of music therapy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0809-8131 .- 1944-8260. ; 22:3, s. 233-242
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper investigates the effects of a music listening intervention on sleep quality in young participants with normal sleep. Recent studies show that relaxing classical music is an effective intervention to reduce sleep problems. The question arises, if such an intervention might have side effects on people who are not faced with sleep difficulties at first instance. We hypothesized that listening to relaxing classical music has an effect (either positive or negative) on the sleep quality of normal sleepers. To test this hypothesis we conducted a randomized control trial (RCT). Ten students (age 20 to 29 years) without sleep complaints listened to relaxing classical music at bedtime for three weeks for 45 minutes. Participants in the control group (n = 10) received no intervention. Sleep quality was measured at four times using the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) before the study and weekly during the intervention period. To analyse the data, a two-way repeated measures ANOVA was calculated. Results did not reveal a statistically significant interaction between TIME and GROUP. Post-hoc comparisons showed that music listening has no influence on sleep quality at any given measuring time. However, the lack of significant effects may also be due to a type II error. Together with previous findings, we conclude that no adverse or side effects accompany the previously reported benefits of this music listening intervention. Further studies are needed to investigate the impact of music characteristics, musical preferences of participants and possible side effects of the intervention in different populations.
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| 3. |
- Ahs, Fredrik, et al.
(author)
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High-frequency heart rate variability and cortico-striatal activity in men and women with social phobia
- 2009
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In: NeuroImage. - : Elsevier BV. - 1053-8119 .- 1095-9572. ; 47:3, s. 815-820
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Identifying brain systems that regulate or modulate autonomic nervous system functions may identify pathways through which psychosocial factors can influence health and disease. Reduced high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) characterizes anxiety disordered patients and is predictive of adverse myocardial events. Sex differences in the prevalence of anxiety disorders and cardiac diseases implicate the possibility of sex specific neural regulation of HF-HRV. We investigated the correlation between HF-HRV and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 28 subjects (15 women) with social phobia undergoing a stressful public speaking task. Regional CBF was measured with [(15)O] water positron emission tomography. Stress induced rCBF correlated positively with HF-HRV in the right supra genual anterior cingulate cortex Brodmann's area (BA) 32, the right head of the caudate nucleus and bilaterally in the medial prefrontal cortex (BA10), extending into the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA46) in the left hemisphere. Men showed larger positive co-variation in the caudate than women. These findings underscore the importance of the emotional division of the anterior cingulate cortex, the prefrontal cortex and the striatum in cardiovagal activity. The study replicates and extends results from published functional neuroimaging studies on cardioregulatory or modulatory areas in healthy subjects to men and women with social phobia. Moreover, caudate functions, possibly related to dopaminergic neurotransmission, have sexually dimorphic effects on vagal modulation of the heart.
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| 4. |
- Kroll, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Chronic non-medical prescription opioid use and empathy for pain: Does pain make the difference?
- 2021
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In: Psychophysiology. - : WILEY. - 0048-5772 .- 1469-8986. ; 58:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Non-medical prescription opioid use (NMPOU) is at the heart of the opioid epidemic in the United States. Although chronic opioid use is commonly accompanied by deficits in social functioning, little is known about the impact of chronic NMPOU on social cognitive functions. Social neuroscience models suggest that empathy activates similar or even equivalent neural structures as those underpinning the first-hand experience in that emotional state (e.g., pain). Therefore, we measured subjective and psychophysiological responses during an empathy-for-pain task in 23 individuals with NMPOU, objectively confirmed by hair and urine testing, and compared them with 29 opioid-naive healthy controls. NMPOU individuals showed lower other-related and self-related unpleasantness ratings when seeing others in pain than controls. No differences between the control and NMPOU group were found in skin conductance responses and heart rate variability (HRV) assessed by root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) in response to the task. However, RMSSD-HRV was strongly negatively correlated with self-related unpleasantness and craving in the NMPOU group. A subsequent mediation analysis showed a total effect of RMSSD-HRV on self-related unpleasantness with no mediation of craving. This indicates that stronger emotion regulation indexed by high RMSSD-HRV might have downregulating effects on sharing others pain in NMPOU individuals but not in healthy controls, which was further accompanied by decreased ratings of personal distress and empathetic concern. These results contribute to a better understanding of social functioning in chronic opioid users, suggesting adequate emotion regulation and empathy trainings as therapeutic targets for future interventions of opioid use disorders and long-term pain treatment with opioids.
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| 5. |
- Stavestrand, Silje Haukenes, et al.
(author)
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Physical exercise augmented cognitive behaviour therapy for older adults with generalised anxiety disorder (PEXACOG) : study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
- 2019
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In: Trials. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1745-6215. ; 20:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is a frequent and severe anxiety disorder among older adults. GAD increases the risk of developing other disorders such as depression and coronary heart disease. Older adults with GAD exhibit a poorer response to cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) compared to younger patients with GAD. The normal age-related cognitive decline can be a contributor to reduced treatment efficacy. One strategy for improving treatment efficacy is to combine CBT with adjunctive interventions targeted at improving cognitive functions. Physical exercise is a viable intervention in this regard. Increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor may mediate improvement in cognitive function. The present study aims to investigate the proposed effects and mechanisms related to concomitant physical exercise.METHODS: The sample comprises 70 participants aged 60-75 years, who have GAD. Exclusion criteria comprise substance abuse and unstable medication; inability to participate in physical exercise; and conditions which precludes GAD as primary diagnosis. The interventions are individual treatment in the outpatient clinic at the local psychiatric hospital, with two experimental arms: (1) CBT + physical exercise and (2) CBT + telephone calls. The primary outcome measure is symptom reduction on the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Other measures include questionnaires, clinical interviews, physiological, biological and neuropsychological tests. A subset of 40 participants will undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). After inclusion, participants undergo baseline testing, and are subsequently randomized to a treatment condition. Participants attend five sessions of the add-on treatment in the pre-treatment phase, and move on to interim testing. After interim testing, participants attend 10 sessions of CBT in parallel with continued add-on treatment. Participants are tested post-intervention within 2 weeks of completing treatment, with follow-up testing 6 and 12 months later.DISCUSSION: This study aims to develop better treatment for GAD in older adults. Enhancing treatment response will be valuable from both individual and societal perspectives, especially taking the aging of the general population into account.TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02690441 . Registered on 24 February 2016.
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| 6. |
- Thayer, Julian F, et al.
(author)
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A meta-analysis of heart rate variability and neuroimaging studies : implications for heart rate variability as a marker of stress and health.
- 2012
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In: Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. - : Elsevier. - 0149-7634 .- 1873-7528. ; 36:2, s. 747-56
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The intimate connection between the brain and the heart was enunciated by Claude Bernard over 150 years ago. In our neurovisceral integration model we have tried to build on this pioneering work. In the present paper we further elaborate our model and update it with recent results. Specifically, we performed a meta-analysis of recent neuroimaging studies on the relationship between heart rate variability and regional cerebral blood flow. We identified a number of regions, including the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, in which significant associations across studies were found. We further propose that the default response to uncertainty is the threat response and may be related to the well known negativity bias. Heart rate variability may provide an index of how strongly 'top-down' appraisals, mediated by cortical-subcortical pathways, shape brainstem activity and autonomic responses in the body. If the default response to uncertainty is the threat response, as we propose here, contextual information represented in 'appraisal' systems may be necessary to overcome this bias during daily life. Thus, HRV may serve as a proxy for 'vertical integration' of the brain mechanisms that guide flexible control over behavior with peripheral physiology, and as such provides an important window into understanding stress and health.
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| 7. |
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