title: Physiological self-regulation and information processing in infancy: cardiac vagal tone and habituation.
abstract: This study investigates the role of physiological self-regulation (cardiac vagal tone) in information processing (habituation) in 81 infants. Nucleus ambiguus vagal tone (Vna, a measure of respiratory sinus arrhythmia) was used to index cardiac vagal tone. Physiological self-regulation was operationalized as the change in Vna from a baseline period of measurement to habituation. Decreases in Vna consistently related to habituation efficiency, operationalized as accumulated looking time (ALT), in all infants twice at 2 months and twice at 5 months; however, this relation was accounted for by infants who met an habituation criterion on each task. Among habituators, shorter lookers also had greater Vna suppression during habituation. Within-age and between-age suppression of vagal tone predicted ALT, but ALT did not predict suppression of vagal tone. Physiological self-regulation provided by the vagal system appears to play a role in information processing in infancy as indexed by habituation.
authors.affiliation: Child and Family Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. Marc_H_Bornstein@nih.gov
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Bornstein
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Suess
mesh_terms: D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male