Age-related changes of phasic heart rate responses to affective pictures.
Author
Summary, in English
This study examined age differences in phasic heart rate in response to neutral, negative and positive pictures. Heart rate changes and subjective ratings were analyzed in 22 middle-aged (40-55 years) and 30 older (56-78 years) participants. The effects of valence on the HR pattern across time were similar to that obtained by Bradley and co-workers. Conversely to previous studies, we did not report any age-related reduction in cardiac reactivity. Instead, when viewing positive pictures, the triphasic wave form appeared in the group of older adults, but for younger participants, it was replaced by a sustained deceleration. These results were interpreted in the light of the socioemotional selectivity theory.
Department/s
Publishing year
2008
Language
English
Pages
325-331
Publication/Series
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
Volume
49
Issue
4
Links
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Topic
- Psychology
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1467-9450