The Association Between Heart Rate Variability and Cognitive Impairment in Middle-aged Men and Women. The Whitehall II Cohort Study

Overview

Journal Neuroepidemiology

Specialties Neurology
Public Health

Date 2008 Aug 1

PMID 18667838

Citations 31

Authors

Annie Britton

Archana Singh-Manoux

Katerina Hnatkova

Marek Malik

Michael G Marmot

Martin Shipley

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: To examine the relationship between reduced heart rate variability (HRV) and cognitive function in middle-aged adults in the general population.

Methods: HRV, in both time and frequency domains, and cognitive functioning were measured twice in 5,375 male and female participants of the UK Whitehall II study (mean ages = 55 and 61 years, respectively). Logistic regression was used to model associations between HRV and cognition [short-term verbal memory, reasoning (Alice Heim 4-I), vocabulary, phonemic and semantic fluency]. Cross-sectional associations were assessed at both waves, and longitudinal associations were measured as changes in cognition over the 5-year follow-up.

Results: No consistent associations were found in men or women, either in the cross-sectional, prospective or the longitudinal analyses of declines in cognition.

Conclusion: Reduced cardiovascular autonomic function does not contribute to cognitive impairment in this middle-aged population. Further studies are needed to verify the potential role of HRV measures in predicting the degeneration of cognitive function at older ages.

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