Effects of the cold face test on heart rate variability in students

This “Perspectives” article puts forward the notion that measuring heart rate variability, or other forms of cardiac autonomic regulation, after spinal cord injury must be performed during a test of autonomic stress. Resting values of heart rate variability are often similar to those obtained from able-bodied individuals, which may therefore be falsely interpreted as normal or healthy autonomic regulation. However, evidence shows that despite normal resting values, cardiac autonomic control is impaired when individual with spinal cord injury are subjected to a cold face test, head-up tilt, or recovery from exercise. Accordingly, examination of cardiac autonomic function must be performed during an autonomic challenge, as resting measures do not accurately reflect the state of cardiovascular regulation after spinal cord injury and can provide false information.

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Cold Face Test-Induced Increases in Heart Rate Variability Are Abolished by Engagement in a Social Cognition Task

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000152 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 38-46 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Frank Iorfino ◽

Gail A. Alvares ◽

Adam J. Guastella ◽

Daniel S. Quintana

Keyword(s):

Heart Rate ◽

Heart Rate Variability ◽

Social Cognition ◽

Vagus Nerve ◽

Major Constituent ◽

Cold Face ◽

Reflex Arc ◽

Facial Cooling ◽

The Mind ◽

Cold Face Test

Abstract. The vagus nerve is a major constituent in the bidirectional relationship between the heart and the prefrontal cortex. This study investigated the role of the vagus in social cognition using the cold face test (facial cooling) to stimulate the vagus nerve and increase prefrontal inhibitory control. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) was measured to index parasympathetic outflow while social cognition ability was tested using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). Healthy males (n = 25) completed the RMET under two conditions: with and without facial cooling. Results indicated that although facial cooling increased HRV at rest, there was no improvement in the RMET during the facial cooling condition. Interestingly, completing the RMET with facial cooling abolished this increase in HRV, suggesting interference along the vagal reflex arc. These results are consistent with the involvement of a common cortico-subcortical circuit in autonomic and cognitive processes, important for emotion recognition.

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Effects of age, sex, and physical fitness on responses to local cooling

Journal of Applied Physiology ◽

10.1152/jappl.1978.44.5.813 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 44 (5) ◽

pp. 813-817 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

J. LeBlanc ◽

J. Cote ◽

S. Dulac ◽

F. Dulong-Turcot

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Heart Rate ◽

Physical Fitness ◽

Female Group ◽

Local Cooling ◽

Trained Subjects ◽

Cold Face ◽

Hand Test ◽

Older Subjects ◽

Cold Face Test

The response to local cooling was estimated by the cold hand test (5 degrees C for 2 min) and the cold face test (0 degrees C with 66 km.h-1 wind for 2 min). Heart rate, blood pressure, and skin temperature were measured before, during, and after the tests. The increase in blood pressure (cold hand test) and the fall in Tsk (cold face test) were reduced in trained subjects. Similarly older subjects (53–60 yr of age) responded less to a cold hand test than younger subjects aged 20–40. However, the bradycardia caused by the cold face test was more pronounced in the older subjects. The responses to the cold hand and cold face tests were the same for male and female subjects. During the 2 min after the test, blood pressure and heart rate fell below initial values in the female group but not in the male. It is concluded that, besides adaptation to cold, individual factors such as age, sex, and physical fitness also have a relative importance in the responses to local cooling.

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Reduced baroreflex sensitivity in elderly humans is not due to efferent autonomic dysfunction

Clinical Science ◽

10.1042/cs0980103 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 98 (1) ◽

pp. 103-110 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

D. O'MAHONY ◽

C. BENNETT ◽

A. GREEN ◽

A. J. SINCLAIR

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Heart Rate ◽

Baroreflex Sensitivity ◽

Reflex Response ◽

Cognitive Stress ◽

Age Related ◽

Cold Face ◽

Blood Pressure Responses ◽

Age Range ◽

Cold Face Test

A progressive decline in baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) is a characteristic feature of human aging, the basis of which is poorly understood. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether alterations in efferent baroreflex function might contribute to the age-related decrease in BRS. We studied 10 healthy young (mean age 30.5 years; age range 22–40 years; six male) and 10 healthy elderly (mean age 70.7 years; age range 67–75 years; five male) volunteers. We tested efferent cardiac vagal function using the bradycardiac response to the cold face test, and efferent sympathetic function using heart rate and blood pressure responses to four stress tests: (i) low-level cognitive stress, (ii) high-level cognitive stress, (iii) hand immersion in ice water (cold pressor test) and (iv) isometric sustained hand-grip. Haemodynamic responses to these stresses are mediated via efferent baroreflex pathways, whereas the afferent components of each reflex response are independent of afferent baroreflex pathways. BRS was measured from simultaneous Finapres-derived continuous blood pressure and digital ECG R–R interval data using the sequence analysis paradigm. As expected, BRS was significantly reduced in the elderly group (7.29±0.74 ms/mmHg; mean±S.E.M.) compared with the young group (13.84±1.13 ms/mmHg; P < 0.001). However, neither the bradycardiac responses to the cold face test nor the efferent sympathetically mediated heart rate/blood pressure responses to the stress test battery were significantly different between the young and elderly groups. We conclude that the age-related decrease in BRS is not attributable to impairments in the efferent sympathetic or parasympathetic system components of the baroreceptor reflex pathway.

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Cold face test demonstrates parasympathetic cardiac dysfunction in familial dysautonomia

AJP Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajpregu.1999.276.6.r1833 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 276 (6) ◽

pp. R1833-R1839 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

M. J. Hilz ◽

B. Stemper ◽

P. Sauer ◽

U. Haertl ◽

W. Singer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Heart Rate ◽

Blood Flow ◽

Transfer Function ◽

Power Spectra ◽

Familial Dysautonomia ◽

Cold Face ◽

Parasympathetic Dysfunction ◽

Transfer Function Gain ◽

Cold Face Test

In familial dysautonomia (FD), i.e., Riley-Day syndrome, parasympathetic dysfunction has not been sufficiently evaluated. The cold face test is a noninvasive method of activating trigeminal brain stem cardiovagal and sympathetic pathways and can be performed in patients with limited cooperation. We performed cold face tests in 11 FD patients and 15 controls. For 60 s, cold compresses (0–1°C) were applied to the cheeks and forehead while we monitored heart rate, respiration, beat-to-beat radial artery blood pressure, and laser-Doppler skin blood flow at the first toe pulp. From these measurements heart rate variability parameters were calculated: root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), coefficient of variation (CV), low- and high-frequency (LF and HF, respectively) power spectra of the electrocardiogram, and the LF transfer function gain between blood pressure and heart rate. All patients perceived cold stimulation and acknowledged discomfort. In controls, heart rate and skin blood flow decreased significantly during cold face test; in patients, both parameters decreased only briefly and not significantly. In controls, blood pressure, RMSSD, CV, and heart rate HF-power spectra increased but remained unchanged in patients. Respiration, as well as heart rate LF power spectra, did not change in either group. In controls, LF transfer function gain between blood pressure and heart rate indicated that bradycardia was not secondary to blood pressure increase. We conclude that the cold face test demonstrated that patients with FD have a reduced cardiac parasympathetic response, which implies efferent parasympathetic dysfunction.

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Linear and non-linear analysis of heart rate variability in HIV-positive patients on two different antiretroviral therapy regimens

BMC Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1186/s12879-021-06648-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Anderson José Gonçalves ◽

Marcus Vinícius Almeida Braga ◽

Pedro Henrique Santana ◽

Luiz Antônio Pertilli Rodrigues Resende ◽

Valdo José Dias da Silva ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Rate ◽

Heart Rate Variability ◽

Antiretroviral Therapy ◽

Reverse Transcriptase ◽

Autonomic Dysfunction ◽

Control Group ◽

Hiv Patients ◽

Cold Face ◽

Non Linear ◽

Group 2

Abstract Background Cardiac autonomic dysfunction in HIV+ patients on different antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens has been described. We aimed to characterize parameters of heart rate variability (HRV) and correlate with different classes of ART in HIV+ patients in three experimental conditions: rest, cold face, and tilt tests. Methods Cross-sectional study with three groups of age- and gender-matched individuals: group 1, 44 HIV+ patients undergoing combination therapy, with two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI) and one non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI); group 2, 42 HIV+ patients using two NRTI and protease inhibitors (PI’s); and group 3, 35 healthy volunteers with negative HIV serology (control group). Autonomic function at rest and during cold face- and tilt-tests was assessed through computerized analysis of HRV, via quantification of time- and frequency domains by linear and non-linear parameters in the three groups. Results Anthropometric and clinical parameters were similar between both HIV groups, except CD4+ T lymphocytes, which were significantly lower in group 2 (p = 0.039). At baseline, time-domain linear HRV parameters, RMSSD and pNN50, and the correlation dimension, a non-linear HRV parameter (p < 0.001; p = 0.018; p = 0.019, respectively), as well as response of RMSSD to cold face test were also lower in the HIV+ group than in the control individuals (p < 0.001), while no differences among groups were detected in HRV parameters during the tilt test. Conclusions Despite ART regimens, HIV+ patients presented lower cardiac vagal modulation than controls, whereas no difference was observed among the HIV groups, suggesting that higher cardiovascular risk linked to PIs may be associated with factors other than autonomic dysfunction.

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