Cardiac interaction between mother and infant: enhancement of heart rate variability.

ABSTRACT: The vagal activity of infants is represented by heart rate variability (HRV) and associated with both growth and socioemotional development. The enhancement of an infant's vagal tone activity might be beneficial for development. This study explored whether HRV in infants aged 3-8 months can be enhanced by influencing HRV in mothers (40 dyads). The power of the low frequency (LF) component of maternal HRV was facilitated using slow-paced breathing. We investigated whether the change in maternal HRV affected the LF component in infants held by their mothers. In older infants (N = 14, 6-8 months) the LF power showed an increase during maternal paced breathing, whereas a delayed increase occurred after termination of maternal paced breathing in younger infants (N = 16, 3-5 months). These resul

SUBMITTER: Suga A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6934483 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature