Individuals suffering from an anxiety disorder are characterized by chronically low heart rate variability (HRV) compared to healthy individuals during resting state conditions. However, when examining HRV and HR in response to a stressor, mixed results have been obtained when comparing anxious and non-anxious groups. The primary aim of the present study was to investigate HRV and HR responding in 26 clinically anxious and 14 control individuals before, during and after a stressful working memory task. Results indicate no between-group differences in HRV and HR at baseline. When starting the working memory task, the control group decreased significantly in HRV and the anxious group did not differ substantially in their change pattern from baseline to the start of the stressor. Finally, during the recovery phase of the working memory task, the clinically anxious and control individuals did not differ in their HFV or HR response compared to baseline. From a clinical perspective, the results suggest that screening for the presence of anxiety disorders may help to identify patients with impaired HRV and HR functioning and to intervene on these important patient characteristics early in the treatment process.

中文翻译：

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焦虑和控制参与者的压力性认知任务期间的心率变异性变化

与静止状态下的健康个体相比，患有焦虑症的个体的特征在于慢性低心率变异性（HRV）。但是，当检查应激反应时的HRV和HR时，比较焦虑和非焦虑组的结果却不尽相同。本研究的主要目的是调查在有压力的工作记忆任务之前，期间和之后，在26名临床焦虑者和14名对照个体中的HRV和HR反应。结果表明，基线时HRV和HR的组间无差异。在开始工作记忆任务时，对照组的HRV显着下降，而焦虑组从基线到应激源开始的变化模式没有显着差异。最后，在工作内存任务的恢复阶段，与基线相比，临床焦虑和对照个体的HFV或HR反应无差异。从临床角度来看，结果表明，筛查焦虑症的存在可能有助于识别HRV和HR功能受损的患者，并在治疗过程的早期干预这些重要的患者特征。