Past Issues

Objectives: The autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysregulation is a well
known risk of adverse cardiovascular events. Analysis of heart rate variability
(HRV) can give a valuable window into the ANS function being implicated in various
medical diseases. But HRV analysis is not well established although psychiatric
research fi ndings have shown considerable association of psychopathology
with cardiovascular comorbidity. In this review, we introduce the principle and
technique of HRV analysis and illustrate how HRV analysis can shed light on neurobiology
of psychiatric disorders. Methods: We present HRV methods and applications
to quantify ANS dysregulation associated with psychiatric disorders. We
will also highlight the novel approaches of HRV analysis to study mental illnesses
in the context of genetic inferences and sleep physiology. Results: Symptoms of
ANS disturbance are common in psychiatric disorders. HRV analysis has been
used to quantify ANS dysregulation in depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia.
Moreover, we reveal that some variations in genes, such as the genes encoding
apolipoprotein-E and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, may have signifi cant impact
on cardiac dynamics which are implicated in psychopathology of psychiatric
disorders. Finally, we introduce cardiopulmonary coupling analysis which is adopted
from HRV analysis to show its application to quantify sleep stability. Conclusions:
Investigating ANS functions may give insight into understanding neurobiology
of psychiatric disorders. We need prospective studies of ANS dysregulation
in various psychiatric disorders to evaluate their psychopathology connected with
cardiovascular comorbidity.