TY - JOUR
T1 - Heart rate variability in individuals with autism spectrum disorders
T2 - A meta-analysis
AU - Cheng, Ying Chih
AU - Huang, Yu Chen
AU - Huang, Wei Lieh
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Ms. Yi-Ling Lin and Ms. Huei-Mei Ma for their administrative work during manuscript preparation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/11
Y1 - 2020/11
N2 - Heart rate variability (HRV) in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been investigated in some studies but the procedures and results vary. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare HRV in individuals with and without ASD; the influence of different conditions and HRV indices is considered. Baseline HRV and HRV reactivity were analyzed in several ways: parasympathetic indices in hierarchical order (main analysis), total variability, specific parasympathetic indices and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), etc. The review covered 34 studies for quantitative analysis. Individuals with ASD had a significantly lower baseline HRV for parasympathetic indices in hierarchical order (Hedges'g=-0.5168, p < 0.0001) and RSA (g=-0.5860, p=0.0010). The reactivity of HRV in situations of social stress (g=-0.4647, p = 0.0033) and social debriefing (g=-0.5001, p = 0.0007) was also significantly lower in subjects with ASD. RSA reactivity was significantly lower in ASD group for all situations, with the largest effect size for social stress (g=-0.7246, p < 0.0001). The results support low HRV to be a potential biomarker of ASD, especially RSA reactivity under social stress.
AB - Heart rate variability (HRV) in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been investigated in some studies but the procedures and results vary. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare HRV in individuals with and without ASD; the influence of different conditions and HRV indices is considered. Baseline HRV and HRV reactivity were analyzed in several ways: parasympathetic indices in hierarchical order (main analysis), total variability, specific parasympathetic indices and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), etc. The review covered 34 studies for quantitative analysis. Individuals with ASD had a significantly lower baseline HRV for parasympathetic indices in hierarchical order (Hedges'g=-0.5168, p < 0.0001) and RSA (g=-0.5860, p=0.0010). The reactivity of HRV in situations of social stress (g=-0.4647, p = 0.0033) and social debriefing (g=-0.5001, p = 0.0007) was also significantly lower in subjects with ASD. RSA reactivity was significantly lower in ASD group for all situations, with the largest effect size for social stress (g=-0.7246, p < 0.0001). The results support low HRV to be a potential biomarker of ASD, especially RSA reactivity under social stress.
KW - Autism spectrum disorders
KW - Autonomic nervous system
KW - Heart rate variability
KW - Respiratory sinus arrhythmia
KW - Social stress
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U2 - 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.08.007
DO - 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.08.007
M3 - Review article
C2 - 32818581
AN - SCOPUS:85090290037
SN - 0149-7634
VL - 118
SP - 463
EP - 471
JO - Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
JF - Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
ER -