Moderate vagal withdrawal in 3.5-year-old children is associated with optimal performance on executive function tasks.
Vagal tone (measured via respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA) and vagal withdrawal (measured by decreases in RSA) have been identified as physiological measures of self-regulation, but little is known how they may relate to the regulation of cognitive activity as measured through executive function (EF) tasks. We expected that baseline measures of vagal tone, thought to be an indicator of attention, would correlate with EF performance. We also predicted that vagal withdrawal would allow for the reorientation of attention that is needed to succeed on EF tasks, but too much withdrawal would be detrimental. RSA measured at baseline was indeed related to EF performance in 220 3.5-year-old children, and those who exhibited a moderate decrease in RSA during the EF tasks outperformed children whose RSA decreased by too little or too much. These findings implicate vagal tone withdrawal as a psychophysiological measure of higher cognitive processes, most likely substantiated through increases in the levels of focused attention.
Marcovitch
Stuart
S
Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA. s_marcov@uncg.edu
Leigh
Janet
J
Calkins
Susan D
SD
Leerks
Esther M
EM
O'Brien
Marion
M
Blankson
A Nayena
AN
D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000502:physiology*
Physiol Behav. 2003 Aug;79(3):503-13
12954445
Psychophysiology. 1994 Jan;31(1):17-22
8146250
J Sleep Res. 2007 Dec;16(4):396-405
18036085
Biol Psychol. 2005 Feb;68(2):147-62
15450694
Child Dev. 1997 Apr;68(2):173-86
9179997
Psychol Sci. 2001 Jul;12(4):335-7
11476102
Cognition. 1994 Nov;53(2):129-53
7805351
Neuroimage. 2009 Jan 1;44(1):213-22
18778779
Child Dev. 1998 Jun;69(3):624-35
9680676
Dev Psychol. 2004 Nov;40(6):1068-80
15535757
Child Dev. 2008 Jan-Feb;79(1):45-64
18269508
Biol Psychol. 2007 Feb;74(2):144-53
17055141
Dev Psychobiol. 2009 Apr;51(3):249-58
19107730
Dev Neuropsychol. 2004;26(1):403-22
15276902
Dev Neuropsychol. 2005;28(2):595-616
16144429
Dev Psychobiol. 1997 Sep;31(2):125-35
9298638
Biol Psychol. 2007 Feb;74(2):212-23
17034928
Child Dev. 1985 Feb;56(1):28-37
3987407
Dev Psychobiol. 1994 Jul;27(5):289-300
7926281
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2009 Feb;33(2):81-8
18771686
Aging Ment Health. 2006 May;10(3):250-6
16777652
Dev Psychopathol. 2001 Spring;13(2):183-214
11393643
Dev Psychopathol. 2008 Summer;20(3):899-911
18606037
Monogr Soc Res Child Dev. 2003;68(3):vii-137
14723273
J Sch Psychol. 2007 Feb 1;45(1):3-19
21179384
Stress. 2007 Nov;10(4):368-74
17853065
Psychophysiology. 2007 Jan;44(1):120-7
17241148
Psychophysiology. 1991 Jan;28(1):43-53
1886963
J Affect Disord. 2000 Dec;61(3):201-16
11163422