The heartbeat-evoked potential in young and older adults during attention orienting

Abstract

AbstractCardiac deceleration occurs when individuals orient their attention in anticipation of a sensory stimulus they might have to respond to (attentive anticipation). Cardiac deceleration might be important to optimize sensory processing. However, it is unclear which mechanism connects heart rate with the neuronal processing of external stimuli.In this study, we investigated if cardiac deceleration evoked by attentive anticipation as well as ongoing fluctuations in cardiac cycle duration were associated with changes in the heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP), a cortical response evoked by the heartbeat associated with sensory sensitivity. We studied these phenomena in young and older people [N = 33 (26 women) and 29 (23 women); mean age 23 and 61 years], by analysing electroencephalograms (EEG), electrocardiograms (ECG), and pupilograms simultaneously acquired during a cued simple reaction time and a cued go/no-go task.The HEP was measured in young and older participants with similar amplitude and topography. In the older group, higher HEP was associated with slower average reaction time. Attention orienting, associated with cardiac deceleration, was not related with significant changes in the HEP. Nevertheless, fluctuations in cardiac cycle duration (not locked with the warning cue) affected the HEP in a task and age group dependent manner. Reaction time was, however, independent from these changes.In conclusion, HEP amplitude was associated with average reaction time in the older group, yet we found no evidence that attention orienting affected the HEP, or that, on a trial-by-trial basis, fluctuations in cardiac cycle duration were associated with sensorimotor efficiency.