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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Cardiac sympathetic activation and parasympathetic withdrawal during psychosocial stress exposure in 6‐month‐old infants
Stefan M. SchulzMichelle Bosquet EnlowMichelle Bosquet EnlowRosalind J. WrightThomas RitzDavid Rosenfieldsubject
Malemedicine.medical_specialtySympathetic Nervous SystemCognitive NeuroscienceExperimental and Cognitive PsychologyArticle050105 experimental psychologyElectrocardiography03 medical and health sciencesChild Development0302 clinical medicineDevelopmental NeuroscienceHeart RateParasympathetic Nervous SystemInternal medicineHeart rateHyperventilationmedicineHumansHyperventilationRespiratory inductance plethysmographyTonic (music)0501 psychology and cognitive sciencesVagal toneBiological PsychiatrySocial stressEndocrine and Autonomic SystemsGeneral Neuroscience05 social sciencesInfantMother-Child RelationsRespiratory Sinus ArrhythmiaDistressNeuropsychology and Physiological PsychologySocial PerceptionNeurologyCardiologyFemalemedicine.symptomPsychologyFacial RecognitionStress Psychological030217 neurology & neurosurgeryRespiratory minute volumedescription
Infant autonomic reactivity to stress is a potential predictor of later life health complications, but research has not sufficiently examined sympathetic activity, controlled for effects of physical activity and respiration, or studied associations among autonomic adjustments, cardiac activity, and affect in infants. We studied 278 infants during the repeated Still-Face Paradigm, a standardized stressor, while monitoring cardiac activity (ECG) and respiratory pattern (respiratory inductance plethysmography). Video ratings of physical activity and affect were also performed. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and T-wave amplitude (TWA) served as noninvasive indicators of cardiac parasympathetic and sympathetic activity, respectively. Responses were compared between infants who completed two still-face exposures and those who terminated after one exposure due to visible distress. Findings, controlled for physical activity, showed robust reductions in respiration-adjusted RSA and TWA, with slower return to baseline for TWA. Infants completing only one still-face trial showed more pronounced autonomic changes and less recovery from stress. They also showed elevated minute ventilation, suggesting hyperventilation. Both reductions in adjusted RSA and TWA contributed equally to heart rate changes and were associated with higher negative and lower positive affect. These associations were more robust in the group of distressed infants unable to complete both still-face trials. Thus, cardiac sympathetic activation and parasympathetic withdrawal are part of the infant stress response, beyond associated physical activity and changes in respiration. Their association with cardiac chronotropy and affect increases as infants’ distress level increases. This excess reactivity to social stress should be examined as a predictor of future cardiovascular disease.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-02-19 | Psychophysiology |