Age-Related Changes in Heart Rate Variability from the Neonatal Period to Adulthood

Dokl Biochem Biophys. 2024 Dec;519(1):477-481. doi: 10.1134/S1607672924600829. Epub 2024 Oct 11.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to reveal the patterns of the age-related dynamics of the frequency-dependent regulation of heart rate variability (HRV) based on the analysis of Holter ECG recordings from healthy subjects of four age groups: neonates, one-year-old infants, adolescents, and adults. A wide spectral composition of HRV is shown, consisting of nine Hilbert-Huang modes in the frequency range from 0.0001 to 2 Hz. A decrease in the central frequencies of all modes is shown in the postnatal period with a plateau in adolescence. A rapid progression of systemic humoral regulation of HRV, characterized by a consolidated increase in the amplitudes of the corresponding modes with a plateau in adolescence, is demonstrated. The dome-shaped character of age-related changes in amplitude of modes associated with autonomic control with a maximum in adolescence is shown. The results obtained quantitatively demonstrate age-related consolidated changes in HRV parameters from neonates to adulthood.

Keywords: Hilbert–Huang method; age-related dynamics; cardiovascular system; heart rate variability; wavelet analysis.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Aging* / physiology
  • Electrocardiography, Ambulatory / methods
  • Female
  • Heart Rate* / physiology
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male