title: Age-related changes of phasic heart rate responses to affective pictures.
abstract: This study examined age differences in phasic heart rate in response to neutral, negative and positive pictures. Heart rate changes and subjective ratings were analyzed in 22 middle-aged (40-55 years) and 30 older (56-78 years) participants. The effects of valence on the HR pattern across time were similar to that obtained by Bradley and co-workers. Conversely to previous studies, we did not report any age-related reduction in cardiac reactivity. Instead, when viewing positive pictures, the triphasic wave form appeared in the group of older adults, but for younger participants, it was replaced by a sustained deceleration. These results were interpreted in the light of the socioemotional selectivity theory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. annemarie.aupee@clinique-memoire.com
authors.forename: Anne-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Aupée
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jönsson
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011582:Psychological Theory; D014796:Visual Perception