Abstract :
[en] Cardiovascular parameters may have an impact on individual cardioafferent
neural traffic which in turn plays a crucial role in emotion and
symptom genesis of body-related mental disorders. We investigated,
whether parameters as heart rate and blood pressure may be
determinants of cardiac modulation of startle (CMS), a ―background‖
methodology for assessing baro-afferent signal transmission.
Therefore, 30 healthy volunteers received acoustic startle stimuli (105
dB) at 9 different latencies relative to the R-wave (R + 0, 100, 200,
300, 400, 500, 600, 700, and 800 ms; randomized order) after a
resting period in which cardiovascular data (Heart rate (HR), heartrate
variability (HRV), Pulse transit time (PTT), blood pressure (BP) and
blood pressure variability (BPV)) were assessed. We found a strong
positive association between CMS and PTT. Stroke volume, which is
directly linked to PTT, may have an impact on this relationship, as it
does on interoception. We conclude that PTT is associated with
cardiac modulation of startle and that stroke volume may play an
important role in this relationship.