#Minnesota impedance cardiograph series#

A recent meta-analysis of prospective evidence ( Chida & Steptoe, 2010) showed that greater reactivity to stress is associated over time with clinical cardiovascular events however, debates continue about the conclusiveness of the evidence. The “reactivity hypothesis” posits that the repeated activation of the stress response over time can result in several risk factors for cardiovascular diseases ( Schwartz, Gerin, Davidson, Pickering, Brosschot, Thayer, Christenfeld, & Linden, 2003). Until a few decades ago, this process has been attributed to an excessive response of the individual to stressful events (i.e. The fact that the presence of stressful events may lead to the development and maintenance of somatic disorders is now recognized and accepted ( Krantz & McCeney, 2002).

#Minnesota impedance cardiograph series#

The results underscore the association of rumination with a series of well-known risk factors for health. Nondistracted participants showed higher sympathetic activity as suggested by shorter pre-ejection period, higher low-frequency heart rate variability (LF-HRV), higher ratio of LF to high frequency HRV (HF-HRV), and diminished parasympathetic activity (lower HF-HRV). Rumination was experimentally manipulated by the use of a distracter. In 60 participants (27 men and 33 women mean age = 33.4 ± 9.5 years), we recorded cardiac impedance and heart rate during baseline, an Anger Recall Interview, a reading task, and two recovery periods. First, we examined the cardiac activation that takes place in response to ruminating about stress, independently of the presence of a real stressor, and second, we focused on the underlying physiological components of cardiac regulation during rumination, that is, the sympathetic and parasympathetic components. In consideration of existing contradictory findings, the aim of the present study was to overcome the limitations of traditional cardiac reactivity studies.