Quran memorisation and heart rate variability: How do they correlate?

Abstract

BACKGROUND Heart rate variability (HRV) was shown to be affected by performing religious activities. AIM To examine the relationship between the level of Quran (the holy book of Muslims) memorisation and HRV among teenagers. METHODS This experimental study included 16 Tahfiz students and 16 non-Tahfiz students (n = 32). The HRV was measured in three tasks: Recalling familiar verses, memorising new verses, and recalling the newly memorised verses of the Quran. HRV analysis was done using these parameters: Standard deviation of N-N (heartbeat peak) interval; low frequency (LF); high frequency (HF) and LF/HF ratio. RESULTS There were significant differences between tasks for all parameters (P < 0.05). However, between the groups, only the LF/HF ratio had significant differences, with F = 5.04, P < 0.05. Pearson correlation showed a moderate positive correlation between the number of pages memorised and the LF/HF ratio (r = 0.61, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Quran memorisation increased the HRV and our results suggested that this activity could be developed as an effective sympathovagal modulation training activity.