title: 10-Second heart rate variability and cognitive function in old age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of 10-second heart rate variability (HRV) with various domains of cognitive function in older participants at risk of cardiovascular disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 3,583 participants, mean age of 75.0 years, who were enrolled in the Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk. From baseline 10-second ECGs, standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals was calculated as the index of HRV. Four cognitive domains were assessed at baseline and repeated during a mean follow-up period of 3.2 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Lower HRV at baseline was associated with worse performance in reaction time (mean difference between low third vs high third of HRV = 1.96 seconds, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.20 to 3.71) and processing speed (-0.57 digits coded, 95% CI -1.09 to -0.05). During follow-up, participants with lower HRV had a steeper decline in processing speed (mean annual change between low third vs high third of HRV = -0.16 digits coded, 95% CI -0.28 to -0.04). There was no difference in annual changes of reaction time or immediate and delayed memory among HRV thirds during follow-up. All these associations remained unchanged after adjustment for medications, cardiovascular risk factors, and comorbidities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Participants with lower 10-second HRV have worse performance in reaction time and processing speed and experience steeper decline in their processing speed, independent of medications, cardiovascular risk factors, and comorbidities.
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Gerontology and Geriatrics (S.M., D.v.H., A.J.M.d.C., B.S.), Cardiology (J.W.J.), and Radiology (B.S.), Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands; and Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Science (P.W.M., E.N.C.), University of Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: Simin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mahinrad
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Gerontology and Geriatrics (S.M., D.v.H., A.J.M.d.C., B.S.), Cardiology (J.W.J.), and Radiology (B.S.), Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands; and Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Science (P.W.M., E.N.C.), University of Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: J Wouter
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Jukema
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Gerontology and Geriatrics (S.M., D.v.H., A.J.M.d.C., B.S.), Cardiology (J.W.J.), and Radiology (B.S.), Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands; and Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Science (P.W.M., E.N.C.), University of Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van Heemst
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Gerontology and Geriatrics (S.M., D.v.H., A.J.M.d.C., B.S.), Cardiology (J.W.J.), and Radiology (B.S.), Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands; and Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Science (P.W.M., E.N.C.), University of Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Macfarlane
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Gerontology and Geriatrics (S.M., D.v.H., A.J.M.d.C., B.S.), Cardiology (J.W.J.), and Radiology (B.S.), Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands; and Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Science (P.W.M., E.N.C.), University of Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: Elaine N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Gerontology and Geriatrics (S.M., D.v.H., A.J.M.d.C., B.S.), Cardiology (J.W.J.), and Radiology (B.S.), Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands; and Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Science (P.W.M., E.N.C.), University of Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: Anton J M
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: de Craen
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Gerontology and Geriatrics (S.M., D.v.H., A.J.M.d.C., B.S.), Cardiology (J.W.J.), and Radiology (B.S.), Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands; and Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Science (P.W.M., E.N.C.), University of Glasgow, UK. b.sabayan@lumc.nl.
authors.forename: Behnam
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sabayan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors