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The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between physical fitness, heart rate variability (HRV) and cognitive function in 37 male sailors from the Royal Norwegian Navy. All subjects participated in an 8-week training program, after which the subjects completed the initial cognitive testing (pretest). The subjects were assigned into a detrained group (DG) and a trained group (TG) based on their application for further duty. The DG withdrew from the training program for 4 weeks after which all subjects then completed the cognitive testing again (post-test). Physical fitness, measured as maximum oxygen consumption (VO2(max)), resting HRV, and cognitive function, measured using a continuous performance task (CPT) and a working memory test (WMT), were recorded during the pre-test and the post-test, and the data presented as the means and standard deviations. The results showed no between-group differences in VO2(max) or HRV at the pre-test. The DG showed a significant decrease in VO2(max) from the pre- to the post-test and a lower resting HRV than the TG on the post-test. Whereas there were no between-group differences on the CPT or WMT at the pre-test, the TG had faster reaction times and more true positive responses on tests of executive function at the post-test compared to the pre-test. The DG showed faster reaction times on non-executive tasks at the post-test compared to the pre-test. The results are discussed within a neurovisceral integration framework linking parasympathetic outflow to the heart to prefrontal neural functions.

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Emotion-modulated startle is a robust phenomenon that has been demonstrated in a wide range of experimental situations. Similarly, heart rate variability (HRV) has been associated with a diverse range of processes including affective and attentional regulation. The present study sought to examine the relationship between these two important measures of affective behavior. Ninety female participants viewed pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures while exposed to acoustic startle stimuli. The eyeblink startle was recorded both during the affective foregrounds and during intertrial intervals. HRV was assessed during a resting baseline and relationships between HRV and startle magnitudes examined. Results indicated that resting HRV was inversely related to startle magnitude during both intertrial intervals and affective foregrounds. In addition, the participants with the highest HRV showed the most differentiated emotion-modulated startle effects, whereas those with the lowest HRV, compared to those with the highest HRV, showed significantly potentiated startle to neutral foregrounds and marginally potentiated startle to pleasant foregrounds. The findings are consistent with models that posit that prefrontal cortical activity modulates subcortical motivation circuits. These results have important implications for the use of startle probe methodology and for HRV in the study of emotional regulation and dysregulation.

It is important for robot designers to know how to make robots that interact effectively with humans. One key dimension is robot appearance and in particular how humanlike the robot should be. Uncanny Valley theory suggests that robots look uncanny when their appearance approaches, but is not absolutely, human. An underlying mechanism may be that appearance affects users’ perceptions of the robot’s personality and mind. This study aimed to investigate how robot facial appearance affected perceptions of the robot’s mind, personality and eeriness. A repeated measures experiment was conducted. 30 participants (14 females and 16 males, mean age 22.5 years) interacted with a Peoplebot healthcare robot under three conditions in a randomized order: the robot had either a humanlike face, silver face, or no-face on its display screen. Each time, the robot assisted the participant to take his/her blood pressure. Participants rated the robot’s mind, personality, and eeriness in each condition. The robot with the humanlike face display was most preferred, rated as having most mind, being most humanlike, alive, sociable and amiable. The robot with the silver face display was least preferred, rated most eerie, moderate in mind, humanlikeness and amiability. The robot with the no-face display was rated least sociable and amiable. There was no difference in blood pressure readings between the robots with different face displays. Higher ratings of eeriness were related to impressions of the robot with the humanlike face display being less amiable, less sociable and less trustworthy. These results suggest that the more humanlike a healthcare robot’s face display is, the more people attribute mind and positive personality characteristics to it. Eeriness was related to negative impressions of the robot’s personality. Designers should be aware that the face on a robot’s display screen can affect both the perceived mind and personality of the robot.

Background Ethnic disparities in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality are widely documented in the literature. Recently, research has shown that decreased parasympathetic (PNS) cardiac modulation is associated with the established and emerging risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke. In consideration of the disproportionate CVD risk and disease profile of African Americans (AAs), it is plausible that decreased cardiac PNS functioning may partially explain these disparities. In the present systematic review and meta-analysis, we assess the available evidence for a reliable ethnic difference in tonic vagally-mediated heart rate variability (HRV), an indicator of PNS cardiac modulation. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted yielding studies comparing tonic HRV in AAs and European Americans (EAs). Adjusted standardized effect sizes, (Hedges g), were calculated using a mixed effects model with restricted maximum likelihood estimation for 17 studies containing appropriate measures of vagally-mediated HRV. Results Meta-analysis results suggest that AAs have greater HRV than EAs (Hedges g = .93, 95% C.I. [.25, 1.62]) even after consideration of several covariates including health status, medication use, and subgroup stratification by gender and age. Conclusions These findings suggest that decreased vagally-mediated HRV is not likely to account for the persistent health disparities experienced by AAs with respect to cardiovascular disease risk and burden. These disparities underscore the need for continued research addressing socio-ethnic cardiovascular differences and the biobehavioral mechanisms involved

Summary:Purpose: Changes in heart rate and heart rate variability have been found in prior studies performed during the intracarotid sodium amobarbital (ISA) test. However, these results are not entirely consistent with current models of differential cerebral involvement in the modulation of the heart. This study was designed to re-investigate this topic with a larger N than has heretofore been used.Methods: The electrocardiogram was recorded during left and right ISAs in 73 subjects. Raw heart rate and heart rate variability were calculated.Results: Raw heart rate increased during inactivation of either hemisphere, but more so for the right hemisphere. Heart rate variability changes consistent with decreasing parasympathetic tone also were found to occur during either ISA, but to a significant degree, only during right ISA. Conclusions:The right hemisphere appears to have a greater role in cerebral regulation of cardiac function, perhaps by virtue of the modification of parasympathetic effects.

Alcoholism and heavy drinking are associated with a number of physiological, behavioral, affective, and cognitive problems. One such problem involves dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, with alcoholics showing higher basal cortisol levels and reduced inhibitory feedback control. In addition, alcohol consumption is associated with decreased heart rate variability (HRV). In the present study we examined the relationships among alcohol consumption, cortisol excretion, and HRV in 542 apparently healthy men. Men in the top tertile of self-reported alcohol consumption had higher cortisol levels and lower HRV compared to men in the lower two tertiles of alcohol consumption. In addition, the inverse relationship between cortisol and HRV was greatly attenuated in the heavy drinking group even after accounting for a number of potential confounding factors. These results support prior research on the HPA axis dysregulation in alcoholics and suggest impaired inhibitory control of the HPA axis in heavy drinkers. The findings are consistent with the neurovisceral integration model, which links central and peripheral processes, and may provide a comprehensive framework for the future investigation of the complex mix of physiological, behavioral, affective, and cognitive factors which comprise the heavy drinking phenotype.