Is Heart Rate Variability Related to Memory Performance in Middle-Aged Men?

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Amit Shah, Emory University; Shaoyong Su, Emory University; Emir Veledar, Emory University; James Bremner, Emory University; Felicia Goldstein, Emory University; Rachel Lampert, Yale University; Jack Goldberg, University of Washington; Viola Vaccarino, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2011-07-01
• Publisher: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2011 by the American Psychosomatic Society.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e3182227d6a
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Psychosomatic Medicine
• ISSN: 0033-3174
• Volume: 73
• Issue: 6
• Start Page: 475
• End Page: 482
• Grant/Funding Information: The United States Department of Veterans Affairs has provided financial support for the development and maintenance of the Vietnam Era Twin (VET) Registry.; Numerous organizations have provided invaluable assistance, including: VA Cooperative Study Program; Department of Defense; National Personnel Records Center, National Archives and Records Administration; the Internal Revenue Service; NIH; National Opinion Research Center; National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences; the Institute for Survey Research, Temple University.; This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [K24HL077506, R01 HL68630 and R01 AG026255]; the Emory University General Clinical Research Center [MO1-RR00039] and by the American Heart Association [0245115N].
• Keywords: Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Psychiatry; ARTERIAL-PRESSURE; Social Sciences; AUTONOMIC FUNCTION; RENIN-ANGIOTENSIN SYSTEM; MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT; MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION; POWER SPECTRUM ANALYSIS; ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE; memory; cognitive function; Science & Technology; Psychology, Multidisciplinary; ERA TWIN REGISTRY; heart rate variability; SELECTIVE REMINDING TEST; Psychology; autonomic function; NEUROVISCERAL INTEGRATION
• Research Categories: Psychology, Cognitive; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of autonomic function, has been associated with cognitive function, but studies are conflicting. Previous studies have also not controlled for familial and genetic influences. METHODS: We performed power spectral analysis on 24-hour ambulatory ECGs in 416 middle-aged male twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Memory and learning were measured by verbal and visual Selective Reminding Tests (SRTs). Mixed-effect regression models were used to calculate associations between and within twin pairs, while adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: The mean age (standard deviation) was 55 (2.9) years. A statistically significant positive association was found between measures of HRV and verbal, but not visual, SRT scores. The most statistically significant unadjusted association was found between very low frequency HRV and verbal total recall SRT, such that each logarithm of increase in very low frequency was associated with an increased verbal SRT score of 4.85 points (p =.002). The association persisted despite the adjustment for demographic and cardiovascular risk factors, and after accounting for familial and genetic factors by comparing twins within pairs. A significant interaction was found between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and HRV, such that total power and ultra low frequency were associated with SRT in twins (n = 362) without PTSD, but not in those with PTSD. CONCLUSIONS: Lower frequency spectra of HRV are associated with verbal, but not visual, learning and memory, particularly in subjects without PTSD. This association may indicate that autonomic c decline.