Quantitative Relationships Between Clinical Measures Of Depression And Heart Rate Variability As Measured By Linear And Nonlinear Methods

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Primary Supervisor
David Neumann
Other Supervisors
David Shum
Harry McConnell
Ian Hamilton-Craig
Year published
2016
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
A relationship exists between mood and cardiac control systems. This relationship has been established through correlations between medical pathology, such as Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), and psychopathological changes in mood, such as Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Euthymic mood and normal cardiac regulation, as well as the diseases MDD and CHD, are linked by numerous interrelated physiological pathways. These pathways form part of a physiological regulatory network in the body called the psycho-immune-neuroendocrine (PINE) network. PINE network homeostasis can be disrupted by stress, resulting in pathological changes, which give rise to MDD, CHD, or both diseases. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a physiological measure of cardiac function which reflects autonomic cardiac control, an important component of the PINE network.
This body of work set out to test three hypotheses, the first being that psychometric measures of mood and HRV measures are related across a broad range of mood, from non-pathological to pathological depressed mood. The second hypothesis is that psychometric measures of mood and HRV measures remain related over time, even when an individual’s mood changes across time. The third hypothesis is that in people with CHD, HRV measures would still be related to mood, but HRV may be globally reduced compared to people without CHD. A longitudinal cohort study, the Heart and Mind Study, recruited 88 participants and followed them up over six months.
Thesis Type
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Degree Program
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
School of Applied Psychology
Item Access Status
Public
Subject
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)
Heart Rate Variability
Depression
Psycho-immune-neuroendocrine (PINE) network
Heart and Mind Study