Heart rate variability as candidate endophenotype of social anxiety: A two-generation family study

SAD1 is a common and debilitating psychiatric disorder characterized by extreme fear and avoidance of one or more social situations (APA,  2013). Some studies have shown that patients with SAD show enhanced physiological reactions to socially threatening situations, such as increased heart rate (Garcia-Rubio et al., 2017; Gramer et al., 2012; Gramer and Sprintschnik, 2008), decreased HRV (Garcia-Rubio et al., 2017; Gerlach et al. , 2003; Grossman et al., 2001), reflecting increased sympathetic nervous system activity and decreased parasympathetic nervous system activity.

Source: Journal of Affective Disorders - May 8, 2018 Category: Neurology Authors: A. Harrewijn, M.J.W. Van der Molen, B. Verkuil, S.W. Sweijen, J.J. Houwing-Duistermaat, P.M. Westenberg Tags: Research paper Source Type: research