Associations between brain structure, HRV, and depression and anxiety in a non-clinical sample

Abstract

Autonomic variations such as changes in heart rate variability (HRV) have been found in both clinical and non-clinical populations of either depression or anxiety and are maintained across the lifespan. Areas in the brain such as the cingulate cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, insula, and prefrontal regions have been linked with depressive and anxious symptomatology, and these regions have also been implicated in the expression and regulation of autonomic arousal as indexed by high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV). Limited work has integrated HRV, neural autonomic centres, and mental health, of which this study aims to examine across both younger and older adults.