Heart Rate Variability Modulates Eye-Blink Startle in Women With Bulimic Symptoms

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine the modulatory influence of heart rate variability (HRV), an index of autonomic regulation, on eye-blink startle in women with bulimic symptoms. Twenty-four women with bulimic symptoms and 24 control women underwent a psychophysiological test to assess their HRVs during a rest period. They then underwent 20 trials designed to measure their startle motor reflexes while viewing pictures of food and pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures. Women with bulimic symptoms and low HRV had larger startle magnitudes while viewing the pictures than women with both bulimic symptoms and high HRV and control women. A negative relationship between HRV and startle magnitude while viewing food pictures was also found in this group. These findings suggest that poor autonomic regulation, indicated by low HRV, plays a modulatory influence in women with bulimic symptoms.