Variable heart rate and a flexible mind: Higher resting-state heart rate variability predicts better task-switching.
Author: Colzato LS1,2,3, Jongkees BJ4, de Wit M4, van der Molen MJW5, Steenbergen L4,6
Affiliation:
1Cognitive Psychology Unit & Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands. colzato@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.
2Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. colzato@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.
3Institute for Sports and Sport Science, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany. colzato@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.
4Cognitive Psychology Unit & Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
5Developmental and Educational Psychology & Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
6Amsterdam Brain & Cognition (ABC), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Conference/Journal: Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci.
Date published: 2018 Apr 30
Other:
Special Notes: doi: 10.3758/s13415-018-0600-x. [Epub ahead of print] , Word Count: 176
The neurovisceral integration model proposes that heart rate variability (HRV) is linked to prefrontal cortex activity via the vagus nerve, which connects the heart and the brain. HRV, an index of cardiac vagal tone, has been found to predict performance on several cognitive control tasks that rely on the prefrontal cortex. However, the link between HRV and the core cognitive control function "shifting" between tasks and mental sets is under-investigated. Therefore, the present study tested the neurovisceral integration model by examining, in 90 participants, the relationship between vagally mediated resting-state HRV and performance in a task-switching paradigm that provides a relatively process-pure measure of cognitive flexibility. As predicted, participants with higher resting-state HRV (indexed both by time domain and frequency domain measures) showed smaller switch costs (i.e., greater flexibility) than individuals with lower resting-state HRV. Our findings support the neurovisceral integration model and indicate that higher levels of vagally mediated resting-state HRV promote cognitive flexibility.
KEYWORDS: Cardiac vagal tone; Cognitive control; Cognitive flexibility; HF; Heart rate variability; RMSSD; Task-switching paradigm
PMID: 29713957 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-018-0600-x
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