Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The influence of age on heart rate variability during morning wakefulness

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Clinical Autonomic Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

Early morning wakefulness is associated with a peak in cardiac events. The influence of ageing on cardiac regulation during this time is unknown. This cross-sectional study of healthy men and women (n = 40, 20–30 and >60 years) investigated the effect of age on heart rate variability (HRV) during morning versus evening wakefulness and sleep.

Methods

Stable electrocardiogram data during each wake period and sleep stage was analysed using power spectral analysis. HRV measurements were assessed using two (young, older) by two (male, female) ANOVAs with repeated measures on wake/sleep stage.

Results

Young adults experienced increased low-frequency power and low-frequency/high-frequency ratios during morning wakefulness versus slow wave sleep (p < 0.01). Older adults did not show any variation in any HRV variables across wake and sleep stages. All effects were independent of gender.

Interpretation

Older adults did not experience increased sympathetic dominance during morning wakefulness; thus in the older population, fluctuations in autonomic control, indicated by HRV measurements, are unlikely to account for increased occurrence of cardiac events at this time.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. AASM (1999) Sleep-related breathing disorders in adults: recommendations for syndrome definition and measurement techniques in clinical research. The Report of an American Academy of Sleep Medicine Task Force. The Report of an American Academy of Sleep Medicine Task Force. Sleep 22:667–689

    Google Scholar 

  2. Agelink MW, Malessa R, Baumann B, Majewski T, Akila F, Zeit T, Ziegler D (2001) Standardized tests of heart rate variability: normal ranges obtained from 309 healthy humans, and effects of age, gender, and heart rate. Clin Auton Res 11:99–108

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. ASDA (1992) EEG arousals: scoring rules and examples: a preliminary report from the Sleep Disorders Atlas Task Force of the American Sleep Disorders Association. Sleep 15:173–184

    Google Scholar 

  4. Atlas-Task-Force (1993) Recording and scoring leg movements. The Atlas Task Force. Sleep 16:748–759

    Google Scholar 

  5. Berntson GG, Bigger JT Jr, Eckberg DL, Grossman P, Kaufmann PG, Malik M, Nagaraja HN, Porges SW, Saul JP, Stone PH, van der Molen MW (1997) Heart rate variability: origins, methods, and interpretive caveats. Psychophysiology 34:623–648

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Bonnemeier H, Richardt G, Potratz J, Wiegand UK, Brandes A, Kluge N, Katus HA (2003) Circadian profile of cardiac autonomic nervous modulation in healthy subjects: differing effects of aging and gender on heart rate variability. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 14:791–799

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Brandenberger G, Viola AU, Ehrhart J, Charloux A, Geny B, Piquard F, Simon C (2003) Age-related changes in cardiac autonomic control during sleep. J Sleep Res 12:173–180

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Crasset V, Mezzetti S, Antoine M, Linkowski P, Degaute JP, van de Borne P (2001) Effects of aging and cardiac denervation on heart rate variability during sleep. Circulation 103:84–88

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Dodt C, Breckling U, Derad I, Fehm HL, Born J (1997) Plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine concentrations of healthy humans associated with nighttime sleep and morning arousal. Hypertension 30:71–76

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Fukusaki C, Kawakubo K, Yamamoto Y (2000) Assessment of the primary effect of aging on heart rate variability in humans. Clin Auton Res 10:123–130

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Furlan R, Guzzetti S, Crivellaro W, Dassi S, Tinelli M, Baselli G, Cerutti S, Lombardi F, Pagani M, Malliani A (1990) Continuous 24-hour assessment of the neural regulation of systemic arterial pressure and RR variabilities in ambulant subjects. Circulation 81:537–547

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Goff EA, O’Driscoll DM, Simonds AK, Trinder J, Morrell MJ (2008) The cardiovascular response to arousal from sleep decreases with age in healthy adults. Sleep 31:1009–1017

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Goldsmith RL, Bigger JT Jr, Steinman RC, Fleiss JL (1992) Comparison of 24-hour parasympathetic activity in endurance-trained and untrained young men. J Am Coll Cardiol 20:552–558

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Haas DC, Foster GL, Nieto FJ, Redline S, Resnick HE, Robbins JA, Young T, Pickering TG (2005) Age-dependent associations between sleep-disordered breathing and hypertension: importance of discriminating between systolic/diastolic hypertension and isolated systolic hypertension in the Sleep Heart Health Study. Circulation 111:614–621

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Horner RL, Brooks D, Kozar LF, Tse S, Phillipson EA (1995) Immediate effects of arousal from sleep on cardiac autonomic outflow in the absence of breathing in dogs. J Appl Physiol 79:151–162

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Johns MW (1993) Daytime sleepiness, snoring, and obstructive sleep apnea. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Chest 103:30–36

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Middlekauff HR, Sontz EM (1995) Morning sympathetic nerve activity is not increased in humans. Implications for mechanisms underlying the circadian pattern of cardiac risk. Circulation 91:2549–2555

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Migliaro ER, Contreras P, Bech S, Etxagibel A, Castro M, Ricca R, Vicente K (2001) Relative influence of age, resting heart rate and sedentary life style in short-term analysis of heart rate variability. Braz J Med Biol Res 34:493–500

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Muller JE, Ludmer PL, Willich SN, Tofler GH, Aylmer G, Klangos I, Stone PH (1987) Circadian variation in the frequency of sudden cardiac death. Circulation 75:131–138

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Muller JE, Mangel B (1994) Circadian variation and triggers of cardiovascular disease. Cardiology 85(Suppl 2):3–10

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Muller JE, Stone PH, Turi ZG, Rutherford JD, Czeisler CA, Parker C, Poole WK, Passamani E, Roberts R, Robertson T et al (1985) Circadian variation in the frequency of onset of acute myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med 313:1315–1322

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Rechtschaffen A, Kales A (1968) A manual of standardized terminology, techniques and scoring systems for sleep stages of human subjects. US Government printing Office, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  23. Stein PK, Kleiger RE, Rottman JN (1997) Differing effects of age on heart rate variability in men and women. Am J Cardiol 80:302–305

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Thakur RK, Hoffmann RG, Olson DW, Joshi R, Tresch DD, Aufderheide TP, Ip JH (1996) Circadian variation in sudden cardiac death: effects of age, sex, and initial cardiac rhythm. Ann Emerg Med 27:29–34

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Trinder J, Kleiman J, Carrington M, Smith S, Breen S, Tan N, Kim Y (2001) Autonomic activity during human sleep as a function of time and sleep stage. J Sleep Res 10:253–264

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Tsuji H, Larson MG, Venditti FJ Jr, Manders ES, Evans JC, Feldman CL, Levy D (1996) Impact of reduced heart rate variability on risk for cardiac events. The Framingham Heart Study. Circulation 94:2850–2855

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Tsuji H, Venditti FJ Jr, Manders ES, Evans JC, Larson MG, Feldman CL, Levy D (1994) Reduced heart rate variability and mortality risk in an elderly cohort. The Framingham Heart Study. Circulation 90:878–883

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Umetani K, Singer DH, McCraty R, Atkinson M (1998) Twenty-four hour time domain heart rate variability and heart rate: relations to age and gender over nine decades. J Am Coll Cardiol 31:593–601

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Valladares EM, Eljammal SM, Motivala S, Ehlers CL, Irwin MR (2008) Sex differences in cardiac sympathovagal balance and vagal tone during nocturnal sleep. Sleep Med 9:310–316

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Van de Borne P, Nguyen H, Biston P, Linkowski P, Degaute JP (1994) Effects of wake and sleep stages on the 24-h autonomic control of blood pressure and heart rate in recumbent men. Am J Physiol 266:H548–H554

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Willich SN, Levy D, Rocco MB, Tofler GH, Stone PH, Muller JE (1987) Circadian variation in the incidence of sudden cardiac death in the Framingham Heart Study population. Am J Cardiol 60:801–806

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Wroe SJ, Sandercock P, Bamford J, Dennis M, Slattery J, Warlow C (1992) Diurnal variation in incidence of stroke: Oxfordshire community stroke project. BMJ 304:155–157

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical and Academic Unit of Sleep and Ventilation, Royal Brompton Hospital, Imperial College, Fulham Road, London, SW3 6NP, UK

    Elizabeth Anne Goff, Anura S. Malaweera, Anita K. Simonds & Mary J. Morrell

  2. Department of Psychology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Christian L. Nicholas & John Trinder

Authors
  1. Elizabeth Anne Goff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christian L. Nicholas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anura S. Malaweera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Anita K. Simonds
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. John Trinder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Mary J. Morrell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth Anne Goff.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Goff, E.A., Nicholas, C.L., Malaweera, A.S. et al. The influence of age on heart rate variability during morning wakefulness. Clin Auton Res 20, 175–182 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-009-0027-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-009-0027-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation