Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Articles

Autonomic Stress Response Modes and Ambulatory Heart Rate Level and Variability

Published Online:May 12, 2008https://doi.org/10.1027/0269-8803.22.1.28

Abstract

The major goals of this study were (1) to determine consistency of autonomic response modes to different laboratory stressors, and (2) to evaluate the strength of the association between autonomic response modes and ambulatory heart rate and variability. The sample consisted of 45 healthy participants. Parasympathetic (PNS) and sympathetic (SNS) reactivity to and recovery from laboratory stressors (handgrip, logical-mathematical, mirror-tracing, and rumination tasks) were estimated by high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), preejection period (PEP), and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS). Ambulatory HR was measured for 24 h on a work and a nonwork day, counterbalanced. As BRS was less reliable compared to PEP and HF-HRV, the latter two parameters were selected for the computation of SNS/PNS patterns. Autonomic modes were consistent across tasks and more stable during the recovery periods. Moreover, recovery appeared to be sensitive to the emotionality of tasks. Reactivity and recovery patterns differed as a function of gender, with women showing higher vagal tone at baseline, higher HR reactivity to the logical task, greater BRS decrease during the rumination task, and a larger decrease in vagal tone during recovery after the rumination task. After controlling for gender and baseline HR and variability, autonomic profiles during reactivity and recovery periods captured substantially different ambulatory information. Specifically, autonomic profiles during reactivity significantly predicted ambulatory HR level during waking hours, whereas autonomic profile during recovery was linked with ambulatory HRV. Coactivation of SNS and PNS activity was associated with the highest ambulatory HR levels and variability. Findings from the laboratory were consistent with a dimensional autonomic model viewing SNS and PNS contributions to heart rate on orthogonal axes and individual stress response stereotypy. Laboratory task-related autonomic reactivity and recovery may reflect parallel differences in HR level and variability in everyday life.

References

  • Aronow, W.S. , Ahn, C. , Mercando, A.D. , Epstein, S. (1996). Association of average heart rate on 24-h ambulatory electrocardiograms with incidence of new coronary events at 48-month follow-up in 1,311 patients (mean age 81 years) with heart disease and sinus rhythm. American Journal of Cardiology, 78, 1175–1176. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Barnes, V.A. , Johnson, M.H. , Treiber, F.A. (2004). Temporal stability of 24-h ambulatory hemodynamic bioimpedance measures in African American adolescents. Blood Pressure Monitoring, 9, 173–177. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Barron, H.V. , Lesh, M.D. (1996). Autonomic nervous system and sudden cardiac death. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 27, 1053–1060. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Beere, P.A. , Glagov, S. , Zarins, C.K. (1984). Retarding effect of lowered heart rate on coronary atherosclerosis. Science, 226, 180–182. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Berntson, G.G. , Cacioppo, J.T. , Binkley, P.F. , Uchino, B.N. , Quigley, K.S. , Fieldstone, A. (1994). Autonomic cardiac control. III. Psychological stress and cardiac response in autonomic space as revealed by pharmacological blockades. Psychophysiology, 31, 599–608. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Berntson, G.G. , Cacioppo, J.T. , Fieldstone, A. (1996). Illusions, arithmetic, and the bidirectional modulation of vagal control of the heart. Biological Psychology, 44, 1–17. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Berntson, G.G. , Cacioppo, J.T. , Quigley, K.S. (1991). Autonomic determinism: The modes of autonomic control, the doctrine of autonomic space, and the laws of autonomic constraint. Psychological Review, 98, 459–487. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bosch, J.> , de Geus, E.J.C. , Veerman, E.C.I. , Hoogstraten, J. , Amerongen, A.V.N. (2003). Innate secretory immunity in response to laboratory stressors that evoke distinct patterns of cardiac autonomic activity. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, 245–258. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Brosschot, J.F. , Gerin, W. , Thayer, J.F. (2006). The perseverative cognition hypothesis: A review of worry, prolonged stress-related physiological activation, and health. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 60, 113–124. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Cacioppo, J.T. , Uchino, B.N. , Berntson, G.G. (1994). Individual differences in the autonomic origins of heart rate reactivity: The psychometrics of respiratory sinus arrhythmia and preejection period. Psychophysiology, 31, 412–419. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Carroll, D. , Turner, J.R. , Prasad, R. (1986). The effects of level of difficulty of mental arithmetic challenge on heart rate and oxygen consumption. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 4, 167–173. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Christenfeld, N. , Glynn, L. , Gerin, W. (2000). On the reliable assessment of cardiovascular recovery: An application of curve-fitting techniques. Psychophysiology, 37, 543–550. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Davydov, D.M. , Shapiro, D. , Cook, I.A. , Goldstein, I. (2007). Baroreflex mechanisms in major depression. Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry, 31, 164–177. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • De Ferrari, G.M. , Landolina, M. , Mantica, M. , Manfredini, R. , Schwartz, P.J. , Lotto, A. (1995). Baroreflex sensitivity, but not heart rate variability, is reduced in patients with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias long after myocardial infarction. American Heart Journal, 130, 473–480. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Eller, N.H. (2007). Total power and high frequency components of heart rate variability and risk factors for atherosclerosis. Autonomic Neuroscience, 131, 123–130. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Engebretson, T.O. , Sirota, A.D. , Niaura, R.S. , Edwards, K. , Brown, W.A. (1999). A simple laboratory method for inducing anger: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 47, 13–26. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fedotchev, A.I. (1985). Sex differences in psychophysiological parameters depending on task difficulty. Human Physiology, 11, 313–316. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Fredrikson, M. , Blumenthal, J.A. , Evans, D.D. , Sherwood, A. , Light, K.C. (1989). Cardiovascular responses in the laboratory and in the natural environment: >Is blood pressure reactivity to laboratory-induced mental stress related to ambulatory blood pressure during everyday life?. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 33, 753–762. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gillum, R.F. , Makuc, D.M. , Feldman, J.J. (1991). Pulse rate, coronary heart disease, and death: The NHANES I epidemiologic follow-up study. American Heart Journal, 121, 172–177. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Girdler, S.S. , Turner, J.R. , Sherwood, A. , Light, K.C. (1990). Gender differences in blood pressure control during a variety of behavioral stressors. Psychosomatic Medicine, 52, 571–591. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Glynn, L.M. , Christenfeld, N. , Gerin, W. (2002). The role of rumination in recovery from reactivity: Cardiovascular consequences of emotional states. Psychosomatic Medicine, 64, 714–726. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Goedhart, A.D. , Kupper, N. , Willemsen, G. , Boomsma, D.I. , de Geus, E.J.C. (2006). Temporal stability of ambulatory stroke volume and cardiac output measured by impedance cardiography. Biological Psychology, 72, 110–117. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Goldstein, I.B. , Bartzokis, G. , Hance, D.B. , Shapiro, D. (1998). Relationship between blood pressure and subcortical lesions in healthy elderly people. Stroke, 29, 765–772. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Goldstein, I.B. , Jamner, L.D. , Shapiro, D. (1992). Ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate in paramedics during a workday and a nonworkday. Health Psychology, 11, 48–54. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Goldstein, I.B. , Shapiro, D. (1998). Cardiovascular responses to mental arithmetic and handgrip during different conditions of postural change. Psychophysiology, 25, 127–136. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Goldstein, I.B. , Shapiro, D. , Guthrie, D. (2006). Ambulatory blood pressure and family history of hypertension in healthy men and women. American Journal of Hypertension, 19, 486–491. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Grossman, P. , Karemaker, J. , Wieling, W. (1991). Prediction of tonic parasympathetic cardiac control using respiratory sinus arrhythmia: The need for respiratory control. Psychophysiology, 28, 201–216. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hesse, C. , Charkoudian, N. , Liu, Z. , Joyner, M.J. , Eisenach, J.H. (2007). Baroreflex sensitivity inversely correlates with ambulatory blood pressure in healthy normotensive humans. Hypertension, 50, 41–46. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hocking-Schuler, J.L. , O’Brien, W.H. (1998). Cardiovascular recovery from stress and hypertension risk factors: A meta-analytic review. Psychophysiology, 34, 649–659. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Imholz, B.P. , Wieling, W. , van Montfrans, G.A. , Wesseling, K.H. (1998). Fifteen years experience with finger arterial pressure monitoring: Assessment of the technology. Cardiovascular Research, 38, 605–616. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jaquet, F. , Goldstein, I.B. , Shapiro, D. (1998). Effects of age and gender on ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate. Journal of Human Hypertension, 12, 253–257. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Julius, S. , Majahalme, S. (2000). The changing face of sympathetic overactivity in hypertension. Annals of Medicine, 32, 365–370. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kamarck, T.W. , Lovallo, W.R. (2003). Cardiovascular reactivity to psychological challenges. Conceptual and measurement considerations. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, 9–21. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kannel, W.B. , Kannel, C. , Paffenbarger, R.S. Jr , Cupples, L.A. (1987). Heart rate and cardiovascular mortality: The Framingham study. American Heart Journal, 113, 1489–1494. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kasprowicz, A.L. , Manuck, S.B. , Malkoff, S.B. , Krantz, D.A. (1990). Individual differences in behaviorally evoked cardiovascular response: Temporal stability and hemodynamic patterning. Psychophysiology, 27, 605–619. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kleiger, R.E. , Stein, P.K. , Bigger, J.T. Jr. (2005). Heart rate variability: Measurement and clinical utility. Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology, 10, 88–101. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kluess, H.A. , Wood, R.H. , Welsh, M.A. (2000). Vagal modulation of the heart and central hemodynamics during handgrip exercise. American Journal of Physiology, Heart and Circulation Physiology, 279, 1648–1652. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Kudielka, B.M. , Buske-Kirschbaum, A. , Hellhammer, D.H. , Kirschbaum, C. (2004). Differential heart rate reactivity and recovery after psychosocial stress (TSST) in healthy children, younger adults, and elderly adults: The impact of age and gender. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 11, 116–121. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • La Rovere, M.T. , Pinna, G.D. , Hohnloser, S.H. , Marcus, F.I. , Mortara, A. , Nohara, R. et al. (2001). Baroreflex sensitivity and heart rate variability in the identification of patients at risk for life-threatening arrhythmias: Implications for clinical trials. Circulation, 24, 2072–2077. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lanza, G.A. , Pedrotti, P. , Rebuzzi, A.G. , Pasceri, V. , Quaranta, G. , Maseri, A. (1997). Usefulness of the addition of heart rate variability to Holter monitoring in predicting in-hospital cardiac events in patients with unstable angina pectoris. American Journal of Cardiology, 80, 263–267. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Leiderman, P.H. , Shapiro, D. (1962). Application of a time series statistic to physiology and psychology. Science, 138, 141–142. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lensvelt-Mulders, G. , Hettema, J. (2001). Genetic analysis of autonomic reactivity to psychologically stressful situations. Biological Psychology, 58, 25–40. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Linden, W. , Rutledge, T. (1998). A case for the usefulness of laboratory social stressors. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 20, 310–316. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mansoor, G.A. , White, W.B. , McCabe, E.J. , Giacco, S. (2000). The relationship of electronically monitored physical activity to blood pressure, heart rate, and the circadian blood pressure profile. American Journal of Hypertension, 13, 262–267. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Manuck, S.B. , Krantz, D.S. (1984). Psychophysiologic reactivity in coronary heart disease. Behavioral Medicine Update, 6, 11–15. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • McCaffery, J.M. , Bleil, M. , Pogue-Geile, M.F. , Ferrell, R.E. , Manuck, S.B. (2003). Allelic variation in the serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) and cardiovascular reactivity in young adult male and female twins of European-American descent. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, 721–728. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mezzacappa, E.S. , Kelsey, R.M. , Katkin, E.S. , Sloan, R.P. (2001). Vagal rebound and recovery from psychological stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 63, 650–657. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Muneta, S. , Murakami, E. , Sumimoto, T. , Iwata, T. , Hiwada, K. , Sato, Y. et al. (1991). Blood pressure and heart rate variability in elderly patients with isolated systolic hypertension. Journal of Human Hypertension, 5, 393–398. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Neumann, S.A. , Waldstein, S.R. , Sellers, J.J. 3rd , Thayer, J.F. , Sorkin, J.D. (2004). Hostility and distraction have differential influences on cardiovascular recovery from anger recall in women. Health Psychology, 23, 631–640. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ottaviani, C. , Shapiro, D. , Goldstein, I.B. , James, J.E. , Weiss, R. (2006). Hemodynamic profile, compensation deficit, and ambulatory blood pressure. Psychophysiology, 43, 46–56. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Palatini, P. , Dorigatti, F. , Zaetta, V. , Mormino, P. , Mazzer, A. , Bortolazzi, A. et al. (2006). Heart rate as a predictor of development of sustained hypertension in subjects screened for stage 1 hypertension: The HARVEST Study. Journal of Hypertension, 24, 1873–1880. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Palatini, P. , Julius, S. (1999). The physiological determinants and risk correlations of elevated heart rate. American Journal of Hypertension, 12, 3S–8S. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Pollak, M.H. (1991). Heart rate reactivity to laboratory tasks and ambulatory heart rate in daily life. Psychosomatic Medicine, 53, 25–35. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Porges, S.W. (2007). The polyvagal perspective. Biological Psychology, 74, 116–143. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Reyes del Paso, G.A. , Gonzalez, I. , Hernandez, J.A. (2004). Baroreceptor sensitivity and effectiveness varies differentially as a function of cognitive-attentional demands. Biological Psychology, 67, 385–395. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rutledge, T. , Linden, W. , Paul, D. (2000). Cardiovascular recovery from acute laboratory stress: Reliability and concurrent validity. Psychosomatic Medicine, 62, 648–654. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Selby, J.V. , Friedman, G.D. , Quesenberry, C.P. Jr (1990). Precursors of essential hypertension: Pulmonary function, heart rate, uric acid, serum cholesterol, and other serum chemistries. American Journal of Epidemiology, 131, 1017–1027. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sevre, K. , Lefrandt, J.D. , Nordby, G. , Os, I. , Mulder, M. , Gans, R.O. et al. (2001). Autonomic function in hypertensive and normotensive subjects: The importance of gender. Hypertension, 37, 1351–1356. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sherwood, A. , Allen, M.T. , Fahrenberg, J. , Kelsey, R.M. , Lovallo, W.R. , vanDoornen, L.J.P. (1990). Methodological guidelines for impedance cardiography. Psychophysiology, 27, 1–23. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Stewart, J.C. , Janicki, D.L. , Kamarck, T.W. (2006). Cardiovascular reactivity to and recovery from psychological challenge as predictors of 3-year change in blood pressure. Health Psychology, 25, 111–118. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology and the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology . (1996). Heart rate variability – Standards of measurement, physiological interpretation, and clinical use. Circulation, 93, 1043–1065. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Tsuji, H. , Larson, M.G. , Venditti, F.J. Jr , Manders, E.S. , Evans, J.C. , Feldman, C.L. et al. (1996). Impact of reduced heart rate variability on risk for cardiac events: The Framingham Heart Study. Circulation, 94, 2850–2855. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Verdecchia, P. , Schillaci, G. , Borgioni, C. , Ciucci, A. , Telera, M.P. , Pede, S. et al. (1998). Adverse prognostic value of a blunted circadian rhythm of heart rate in essential hypertension. Journal of Hypertension, 16, 1335–1343. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Zakopoulos, N.A. , Ikonomidis, I. , Vemmos, K.N. , Manios, E. , Spiliopoulou, I. , Tsivgoulis, G. et al. (2006). 24-h heart rate and blood pressure are additive markers of left ventricular mass in hypertensive subjects. American Journal of Hypertension, 19, 170–177. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar