The analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) is one tool shown to be of value in examining heart-brain interactions. HRV is remarkably responsive to emotion, and the importance of emotional state in cognitive function is increasingly being recognized and socio-emotional learning strategies being utilized in the classroom. Consequently, the…

A growing body of research suggesting a negative association between basal levels of cortisol and persistent antisocial behavior has emerged. The present study examined relations between awakening cortisol levels and antisocial trajectories from ages 5 to 15 years among individuals in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development…

The study examines group and individual differences in psychological functioning and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity among adolescents displaced by Hurricane Katrina and living in a U.S. government relocation camp (n = 62, ages 12-19 years) 2 months postdisaster. Levels of salivary cortisol, salivary…

An accumulating body of literature has shown a link between early pubertal maturation and internalizing problems, particularly among girls. Our knowledge is, however, limited with regard to what accounts for this association. Based on a hypothesis that early maturing girls have heightened stress sensitivity that increases the risk of internalizing…

A sample of 341 5 1/2-year-old children participating in an ongoing longitudinal study was the focus of a study on the relation between cardiac vagal regulation and peer status. To assess cardiac vagal regulation, resting measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and RSA change (suppression) to 3 cognitively and emotionally challenging tasks…

"Science Briefs" summarize the findings and implications of a recent study in basic science or clinical research. This Brief summarizes the findings and implications of "Exposure to Repetitive versus Varied Stress during Prenatal Development Generates Two Distinct Enxiogenic and Veuroendocrine Profiles in Adulthood" (H. N. Richardson; E. P.…

Objective: To examine the association between limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (L-HPA) axis reactivity and social behavior in children with fragile X syndrome (FXS). Method: Salivary cortisol changes and concurrent anxiety-related behaviors consistent with the behavioral phenotype of FXS were measured in 90 children with the fragile X full…