The very low-frequency band of heart rate variability represents the slow recovery component after a mental stress task

The very low-frequency (VLF) band of heart rate variability (HRV) has different characteristics compared with other HRV components. Here we investigated differences in HRV changes after a mental stress task. After the task, the high-frequency (HF) band and ratio of high- to low-frequency bands (LF/H...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2017-08, Vol.12 (8), p.e0182611-e0182611
Main Authors: Usui, Harunobu, Nishida, Yusuke
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Analysis
Biology and Life Sciences
Cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular diseases
Color
Comparative analysis
Covariance
Cytokines
Data processing
Frequencies
Heart failure
Heart rate
Heart Rate - physiology
Hospitals
Humans
Hypertension
Male
Medical prognosis
Medicine and Health Sciences
Nervous system
Personal computers
Physical Sciences
Power
Prevention
Psychological stress
Recovery (Medical)
Recovery time
Rest
Social Sciences
Stress (Psychology)
Stress, Psychological - physiopathology
Stroke
Stroop Test
Studies
Task Performance and Analysis
Variability
Very Low Frequencies
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Summary:The very low-frequency (VLF) band of heart rate variability (HRV) has different characteristics compared with other HRV components. Here we investigated differences in HRV changes after a mental stress task. After the task, the high-frequency (HF) band and ratio of high- to low-frequency bands (LF/HF) immediately returned to baseline. We evaluated the characteristics of VLF band changes after a mental stress task. We hypothesized that the VLF band decreases during the Stroop color word task and there would be a delayed recovery for 2 h after the task (i.e., the VLF change would exhibit a "slow recovery"). Nineteen healthy, young subjects were instructed to rest for 10 min, followed by a Stroop color word task for 20 min. After the task, the subjects were instructed to rest for 120 min. For all subjects, R-R interval data were collected; analysis was performed for VLF, HF, and LF/HF ratio. HRV during the rest time and each 15-min interval of the recovery time were compared. An analysis of the covariance was performed to adjust for the HF band and LF/HF ratio as confounding variables of the VLF component. HF and VLF bands significantly decreased and the LF/HF ratio significantly increased during the task compared with those during rest time. During recovery, the VLF band was significantly decreased compared with the rest time. After the task, the HF band and LF/HF ratio immediately returned to baseline and were not significantly different from the resting values. After adjusting for HF and LF/HF ratio, the VLF band had significantly decreased compared with that during rest. The VLF band is the "slow recovery" component and the HF band and LF/HF ratio are the "quick recovery" components of HRV. This VLF characteristic may clarify the unexplained association of the VLF band in cardiovascular disease prevention.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0182611