Heart rate variability in depressed elderly.

Objective: The present study examines a measure of cardiac autonomic function, the heart rate variability (HRV), in a group of depressed elderly. Cardiac autonomic abnormalities have been implicated as a potential mediator of cardiovascular events and sudden death in depression. Because aging is associated with decreased cardiac vagal activity, it is possible that autonomic abnormalities are even more pronounced in the older depressed patients.

Relationship between temporal changes in cardiac parasympathetic activity and motion sickness severity.

Chemotherapy-induced nausea has been associated with a time-related decrease in cardiac parasympathetic activity. We tested the hypothesis that a time-related decrease in cardiac parasympathetic activity would also be associated with nausea and other motion sickness symptoms during illusory self-motion (vection). Fifty-nine participants (aged 18-34 years: 25 male) were exposed to a rotating optokinetic drum to induce vection.