Background: The inability to regulate autonomic activity during social interactions is believed to contribute to social and emotional dysregulation in children. Research has employed heart rate variability (HRV) during both socially engaging and …
Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with increased heart rate and reductions in its variability (HRV) – markers of future morbidity and mortality – yet prior studies have reported contradictory effects. We hypothesised that …
Background: Past research has highlighted an important role of the autonomic nervous system in alcohol dependence and capacity for self-regulation. While previous studies have examined alcohol dependent inpatients, it remains unclear whether …
Background: Polyvagal theory emphasizes that autonomic nervous system functioning plays a key role in social behavior and emotion. The theory predicts that psychiatric disorders of social dysfunction are associated with reduced heart rate …
Here we review our recent body of work on the impact of mood and comorbid anxiety disorders, alcohol dependence, and their treatments on heart rate variability (HRV), a psychophysiological marker of mental and physical wellbeing. We have shown that …
Context: There is evidence that heart rate variability (HRV) is reduced in major depressive disorder (MDD), although there is debate about whether this effect is caused by medication or the disorder per se. MDD is associated with a two to fourfold …
Background: Musical performance is a skilled activity performed under intense pressure, thus is often a profound source of anxiety. In other contexts, anxiety and its concomitant symptoms of sympathetic nervous system arousal have been successfully …