Association between early childhood development and cardiac autonomic regulation

Abstract

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulates the child’s responses to the environment through different homeostatic functions. The aim of this study was to analyze the association between early childhood development and cardiac autonomic regulation assessed by fluctuations in heart rate. 47 healthy 2-month-old children living in Mexico City were evaluated with the Bayley II Infant Development Scale. The cardiac autonomic regulation was evaluated from the RR intervals of the Electrocardiogram (ECG), registered in two conditions (Basal state and Feeding). There was a significant association between mental development and the RR parameter of heart rate fluctuations (HRV). When comparing the direction and sense of the differences in temporal parameters of the HRV between the Basal state and Feeding (i.e. deltas) two groups were formed: children with response and children without response. Among these groups, statistical differences were observed between the parameters , RRSD, RMSSD and pNN20. There were also significant differences between the mental development of the groups with and without response. The , RRSD, RMSSD and pNN20 parameters showed statistically significant differences in the Feeding condition. Taking into account the significant differences of the parameters of HRV the and the mental development, the hypothesis was confirmed, the infantile development expressed in the cognitive domain is associated with the fluctuations of the heart rate. Infants with greater variability and with resources of adaptive autonomic adjustments may have a better performance in the face of basic mental demands.