title: Nocturnal heart rate and volitional lifestyle in the elderly.
abstract: The relationship between the level of volitional lifestyle and nocturnal heart rate (HR) in the elderly was investigated. Twenty high- and low-volitional elderly individuals (n = 10 each; mean age 73.2 years) participated in the study. Heart rate during nocturnal sleep was recorded at their homes using an ambulatory polysomnographic system. High-volitional individuals showed a lower HR throughout the night and less variability during rapid eye movement sleep. These findings suggest that a volitional lifestyle of the elderly has a beneficial effect on autonomic activity during sleep.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Ai
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shirota
authors.forename: Munehisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamaki
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nittono
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Tadao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hori
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D017286:Polysomnography; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D014836:Volition; D014851:Wakefulness