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Homelab, offered by Quantihealth Corporation, gives people the ability to monitor health at home using health and wellness tracking tools. One health level measurement that Homelab is designed to capture is heart rate variability, or HRV. A person’s HRV is the range of variability in the time between one heartbeat and the next. This measurement can be used to detect problems in the autonomic nervous system, which regulates the internal organs and unconscious body functions such as breathing and digestion. It is a well-established fact that monitoring HRV can help detect changes in the body’s function related to inflammation and cardiovascular disease. Researchers are finding, however, that HRV also correlates with both cognitive functioning and mental health. HRV can be an important indicator of changes in cognitive status and the effects of depression and anxiety. Both conditions can also point to other health problems, including serious physical conditions. This article will discuss the relationship between HRV and factors related to cognitive function and mental health.

HRV and Cognitive Functioning

Researchers have known for some time that HRV has a positive correlation with executive functioning, which includes working memory, reasoning, problem solving, flexibility, organizational skills, and the ability to plan and carry out actions. HRV has also been positively linked to the ability to pay attention. Recent research suggests that HRV is also a predictor of wisdom, or the ability to reason and make unbiased judgements. A 2016 study published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience measured HRV in adults as they were asked to reflect on societal issues from a first person perspective (as if they were right in the middle of the situation) and a third person perspective (observing the situation from the outside). The results of this study found that higher HRV corresponded to wisdom-related reasoning, including the ability to know one’s own limits, consider the opinions of others, and recognize that the world is constantly changing, when study subjects reflected on societal issues from a third person perspective. The same results were not found in subjects reflecting from a first person perspective, indicating that people may have to reflect on societal issues from a third person perspective before they are able to react with wisdom-related reasoning.

HRV and Mental Health

Partially due to the correlation with executive functioning, HRV also has a correlation with mental health status. High HRV has been associated with effective coping strategies, while low HRV is linked to generalized anxiety disorder and depression. In 2012, a study published in the International Journal of Psychophysiology examined the relationship between HRV, executive functioning, and panic-related variables in individuals with panic disorder. The results of this study showed that people with higher levels of panic-related distress and longer duration of panic attacks had lower resting HRV.  A 2013 literature review, also published in the International Journal of Psychophysiology, found that people with mood and anxiety disorders and alcohol dependency who were otherwise healthy had lower resting HRV and that medications for these conditions tended to lower HRV even further, leading to adverse cardiovascular problems.

Monitoring HRV to Detect Cognitive Changes

The practical side of this research is that monitoring HRV to detect changes in cognitive status or mental health can lead to early detection of hidden disease. Since physical and mental health are closely connected, changes in one could be a sign of changes in the other. For example, lower HRV paired with problems with short term memory could be an early indicator of cognitive decline or it could be a sign of a physical condition that is affecting cognitive status. Lower HRV, decreased appetite, and excess sleeping could be viewed collectively as signs of a mental health problem, or signs of a metabolic disorder. In both instances, the change in HRV is a signal that further investigation into health status is necessary, and the fact that HRV has been tracked over time can help doctors detect the cause of the changes faster and more effectively. In addition, tracking HRV before and after starting a new medication could help to determine if the medication is causing any adverse side effects. This type of health tracking is clearly valuable when the goal is disease prevention.

With the help of Quantihealth, a person can use Homelab to put together an effective online health measurement program to track HRV. If health problems occur, the HRV data will help with early detection of the condition. Contact Quantihealth for more information about monitoring HRV at www.thequantihealth.com.

 

Tags: health tracking , monitor health at home, disease prevention, early detection, hidden disease