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Heart rate variability changes induced by auditory stimulation in persistent vegetative state

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Published/Copyright: December 1, 2010
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International Journal on Disability and Human Development
From the journal Volume 9 Issue 4

Abstract

Previous studies, using neuroimaging and electrophysiology, have identified the presence of cerebral responses to auditory stimulation in clinically unresponsive persistent vegetative state (PVS) patients. In normal individuals, it has been shown that stimulation with emotional content has a strong influence on autonomic cardiovascular regu­lation tested by heart rate variability (HRV). In this paper, we assessed responses to auditory stimulation with emotion­al content in PVS and minimally conscious (MCS) cases by HRV. We found a pattern of changes induced by auditory stimulation in three of our patients (decreased heart rate, increased HRV, decrease power in the low and increased power in high frequencies) consistent with increased cardiovagal stimulation. Both time and frequency domain changes were more pronounced during affective than during non-affective auditory stimulation, suggesting that PVS patients are able to discriminate between stimuli of different content and are more reactive to emotional than non-emotional stimulation. Our results demonstrate (is a conclusion, should be in present) that auditory stimulation can induce recordable changes in HRV in some PVS cases, providing evidence that these patients retain some preserved cognitive function examined by cardiovascular correlates. The use of HRV to study residual cognitive functions could have practical implications for the management of PVS and MCS.

Keywords: blood pressure; consciousness; heart rate vari­ability; minimally conscious state; persistent vegetative state
Corresponding author: Calixto Machado, MD, PhD, Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Apartado Postal 4268, Ciudad de La Habana 10400, Cuba
Received: 2010-6-6
Accepted: 2010-7-20
Published Online: 2010-12-01
Published in Print: 2010-12-01

©2010 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York

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  20. Heart rate variability changes induced by auditory stimulation in persistent vegetative state
https://doi.org/10.1515/IJDHD.2010.041
Keywords for this article
blood pressure; consciousness; heart rate vari­ability; minimally conscious state; persistent vegetative state

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Editorial
  2. Aging with a disability
  3. Review articles
  4. White matter and oligodendrocyte abnormalities in bipolar disorder
  5. Aging people with intellectual disability in Israel
  6. Original articles
  7. Effects of contralateral extremity manipulation on brain function
  8. Effects of motor sequence training on attentional performance in ADHD children
  9. The effects of parental attitudes on health behaviors of adolescents attending 6th to 8th grades in Turkey
  10. Early identification of adolescents with greater psychosocial needs: an evaluation of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong
  11. The impact of modern library services on the rehabilitation of people with disabilities
  12. Qualitative evaluation of the Project P.A.T.H.S.: findings based on focus groups
  13. Patterns of adaptive performance by individuals with autism spectrum disorders on the Scales of Independent Behavior-Revised (SIB-R)
  14. A longitudinal study of institutional downsizing and activity involvement among adults with intellectual disability
  15. Health trends from an international sample of older adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities
  16. The relationship of parental bonding to depression in patients with chronic pain
  17. Semantic structure of alcohol and marijuana categories in memory
  18. Case reports
  19. Ergonomic alternating pressure relief seating system for the rehabilitation of patients with decubitus ulcers
  20. Heart rate variability changes induced by auditory stimulation in persistent vegetative state
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