Stress appraisal is associated with sympathetic neural reactivity to mental stress in humans.

Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) responsiveness to mental stress is highly variable between individuals. Although stress perception has been posited as a contributor to the MSNA variability during mental stress, prior studies have been inconclusive. Furthermore, the importance of stress appraisal and coping on MSNA reactivity to mental stress has not been investigated.

Social connectedness and sleep in Blackfeet American Indian adults.

Objectives: A growing body of work documents a link between indices of social connectedness and sleep health. Sleep is implicated in the chronic health conditions which disproportionately affect American Indian adults, however the relationship between social connectedness and sleep health is largely understudied in this population. The current project investigates relationships between multiple indices of social connectedness and sleep health in a sample of American Indian adults.

Binge Alcohol Consumption Elevates Sympathetic Transduction to Blood Pressure: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Alcohol consumption is associated with cardiovascular disease, and the sympathetic nervous system is a suspected mediator. The present study investigated sympathetic transduction of muscle sympathetic nerve activity to blood pressure at rest and in response to cold pressor test following evening binge alcohol or fluid control, with the hypothesis that sympathetic transduction would be elevated the morning after binge alcohol consumption.

Methods: Using a randomized, fluid-controlled (FC) crossover design, 26 healthy adults (12 male, 14 female, 25±6 years, 27±4 kg/m) received an evening binge alcohol dose and a FC.

Blunted brachial blood flow velocity response to acute mental stress in PTSD females.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Compared with males, females are twice as likely to develop PTSD after trauma exposure, and cardiovascular reactivity to stress is a known risk factor for CVD. We aimed to examine hemodynamic responses to acute mental stress in trauma-exposed females with and without a clinical diagnosis of PTSD.

Actigraphy-based sleep and muscle sympathetic nerve activity in humans.

Short and insufficient sleep are prevalent and associated with cardiovascular disease, with the sympathetic nervous system as a suspected mediator. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between objective, actigraphy-based total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency (SE), and cardiovascular and sympathetic regulation in healthy adults. We hypothesized that short TST and low SE would be associated with elevated resting blood pressure, heart rate (HR), and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA).

Sleep disturbance and sympathetic neural reactivity in postmenopausal females.

Sleep disturbance, one of the most common menopausal symptoms, contributes to autonomic dysfunction and is linked to hypertension and cardiovascular risk. Longitudinal studies suggest that hyperreactivity of blood pressure (BP) to a stressor can predict the future development of hypertension. It remains unknown if postmenopausal females who experience sleep disturbance (SDG) demonstrate greater hemodynamic and sympathetic neural hyperreactivity to a stressor.

Sex as a biological variable for cardiovascular physiology.

There have been ongoing efforts by federal agencies and scientific communities since the early 1990s to incorporate sex and/or gender in all aspects of cardiovascular research. Scientific journals provide a critical function as change agents to influence transformation by encouraging submissions for topic areas, and by setting standards and expectations for articles submitted to the journal. As part of ongoing efforts to advance sex and gender in cardiovascular physiology research, the recently launched a call for papers on Considering Sex as a Biological Variable.

Aging and sympathetic transduction to blood pressure in humans: methodological and physiological considerations.

Recent reports suggest that quantification of signal-averaged sympathetic transduction is influenced by resting muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and burst occurrence relative to the average mean arterial pressure (MAP). Herein, we asked how these findings may influence age-related reductions in sympathetic transduction. Beat-to-beat blood pressure and MSNA were recorded during 5 min of rest in 27 younger (13 females: age, 25 ± 5 yr; BMI, 25 ± 4 kg/m) and 26 older (15 females: age, 59 ± 5 yr; BMI, 26 ± 4 kg/m) healthy adults.

A review of the historical use of sex as a biological variable in the .

Despite National Institute of Health (NIH) mandates requiring sex as a biological variable (SABV), female underrepresentation persists in research, driving the to publish SABV expectations in 2021. To determine progress within the , this mini-review evaluated SABV during the first 6 mo of each decade from 1980 to 2020, and 2019, to mitigate pandemic influence. Of the 1,205 articles published, 1,087 articles were included in this review (articles without original research subjects were excluded), of which 72.

Total knee replacement survivorship by Design Philosophy: are we ignoring medial pivot design? Analysis based on the UK National Joint Registry.

The UK National Joint Registry(NJR) has not reported total knee replacement (TKR) survivorship based on design phi- losophy alone, unlike its international counterparts. We report outcomes of implant survivorship based on design phi- losophy using data from NJR's 2020 annual report. All TKR implants with an identifiable design philosophy from NJR data were included.

Core body temperature changes before sleep are associated with nocturnal heart rate variability.

Core body temperature (CBT) reductions occur before and during the sleep period, with the extent of presleep reductions corresponding to sleep onset and quality. Presleep reductions in CBT coincide with increased cardiac parasympathetic activity measured via heart rate variability (HRV), and while this appears to persist into the sleep period, individual differences in presleep CBT decline and nocturnal HRV remain unexplored. The purpose of the current study was to assess the relationship between individual differences in presleep CBT reductions and nocturnal heart rate (HR) and HRV in a population of 15 objectively poor sleeping adults [10 males, 5 females; age, 33 ± 4 yr; body mass index (BMI) 27 ± 1 kg/m] with the hypothesis that blunted CBT rate of decline would be associated with elevated HR and reduced nocturnal HRV.

Blood pressure and muscle sympathetic nerve activity are associated with trait anxiety in humans.

Chronic anxiety is prevalent and associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Prior studies that have reported a relationship between muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and anxiety have focused on participants with anxiety disorders and/or metabolic syndrome. The present study leverages a large cohort of healthy adults devoid of cardiometabolic disorders to examine the hypothesis that trait anxiety severity is positively associated with resting MSNA and blood pressure.

Vasomotor symptoms of menopause, autonomic dysfunction, and cardiovascular disease.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death among US adults, is more prevalent in menopausal females compared with age-matched males. Vasomotor symptoms of menopause (VMS; hot flashes/flushes and night sweats) are common among females undergoing menopausal transition and have been associated with elevated blood pressure (BP) and increased CVD risk. Autonomic dysregulation of BP has been posited as a contributing factor to the elevated CVD risk in menopausal females with VMS.

Orexin, Sleep, Sympathetic Neural Activity, and Cardiovascular Function.

Inadequate sleep duration and quality are associated with reduced cardiovascular health and increased mortality. Experimental evidence points to the sympathetic nervous system as a key mediator in the observed relationship between poor sleep and cardiovascular dysfunction. However, brain mechanisms underpinning the impaired sympathetic function associated with poor sleep remain unclear.

Effects of alcohol on sleep and nocturnal heart rate: Relationships to intoxication and morning-after effects.

Background: Alcohol consumption produces feelings of well-being and stimulation, but also impairs psychomotor performance, disturbs cardiovascular function and sleep, and can disrupt next-day mood and behavior. A deeper understanding of how the acute effects of alcohol relate to its sleep and morning-after effects is needed to minimize harm resulting from its use. This study examined relationships between the effects of a high dose of alcohol on subjective and psychomotor measures, nocturnal heart rate, sleep quality, and morning-after mood and behavior.

Sympathetic neural reactivity to the Trier social stress test.

Sympathetic responsiveness to laboratory mental stress is highly variable, making interpretations of its role in stress reactivity challenging. The present study assessed muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA, microneurography) responsiveness to the Trier social stress test (TSST), which employs an anticipatory stress phase, followed by a public speaking and mental arithmetic task. We hypothesized that sympathetic reactivity to the anticipatory phase would offer a more uniform response between individuals due to elimination of confounds (i.

Taking to "heart" the proposed legislation for permanent daylight saving time.

In March 2022, the US Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act that would abolish the biannual change in clocks each fall and spring and permanently adopt daylight saving time that aligns with the "spring forward" time change each March. A number of scientific and medical societies have endorsed the abolishment of the biannual clock change, but oppose the permanent adoption of daylight saving time. Instead, leading organizations such as the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms (SRBR) position statements highlight peer-reviewed evidence in favor of a permanent shift to standard time.

Reliability of heart rate variability during stable and disrupted polysomnographic sleep.

Heart rate variability (HRV) is commonly used within sleep and cardiovascular research, yet HRV reliability across various sleep stages remains equivocal. The present study examined the reliability of frequency- and time-domain HRV within stage-2 (N2), slow-wave (SWS), and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep during both stable and disrupted sleep. We hypothesized that high-frequency (HF) HRV would be reliable in all three sleep stages, low-frequency (LF) HRV would be reliable during N2 and SWS, and that disrupted sleep via spontaneous cortical arousals would decrease HRV reliability.