| Title | From psychological moments to mortality: A multidisciplinary synthesis on heart rate variability spanning the continuum of time. | ||
| Author | Kemp, Andrew H; Koenig, Julian; Thayer, Julian F | ||
| Journal | Neurosci Biobehav Rev | Publication Year/Month | 2017-Dec |
| PMID | 28888535 | PMCID | -N/A- |
| Affiliation + expend | 1.Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom; Discipline of Psychiatry, and School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: A.H.Kemp@swansea.ac.uk. | ||
Heart rate variability (HRV) indexes functioning of the vagus nerve, arguably the most important nerve in the human body. The Neurovisceral Integration Model has provided a structural framework for understanding brain-body integration, highlighting the role of the vagus in adaptation to the environment. In the present paper, we emphasise a temporal framework in which HRV may be considered a missing, structural link between psychological moments and mortality, a proposal we label as Neurovisceral Integration Across a Continuum of Time (or NIACT). This new framework places neurovisceral integration on a dimension of time, highlighting implications for lifespan development and healthy aging, and helping to bridge the gap between clearly demarcated disciplines such as psychology and epidemiology. The NIACT provides a novel framework, which conceptualizes how everyday psychological moments both affect and are affected by the vagus in ways that have long-term effects on mortality risk. We further emphasize that a longitudinal approach to understanding change in vagal function over time may yield novel scientific insights and important public health outcomes.