Premium
Early signs of cardiovascular dysregulation in young adult binge drinkers
Author(s) -
Vaschillo Evgeny G.,
Vaschillo Bronya,
Buckman Jennifer F.,
Heiss Sydney,
Singh Gurpreet,
Bates Marsha E.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/psyp.13036
Subject(s) - baroreflex , binge drinking , psychology , heart rate , vagal tone , young adult , cardiology , medicine , autonomic nervous system , clinical psychology , audiology , developmental psychology , blood pressure , poison control , injury prevention , medical emergency
Binge drinking is widespread on American college campuses, but its effects on the cardiovascular system are poorly understood. This study sought evidence of preclinical cardiovascular changes in binge drinking young adults ( n = 24) compared to nondrinking ( n = 24) and social drinking ( n = 23) peers during baseline, paced sighing (0.033 Hz), and paced breathing (0.1 Hz) tasks. Binge drinkers showed consistent but often statistically nonsignificant evidence of greater sympathetic activation and reduced baroreflex sensitivity. Interestingly, the structure of group‐averaged baseline heart rate spectra was considerably different between groups in the low frequency range (0.05–0.15 Hz). In particular, the binge drinking group–averaged spectra showed several spectral peaks not evident in the other groups, possibly indicating two functionally distinct subranges (0.05–0.08 and 0.08–0.15 Hz) that reflect vascular tone baroreflex activity and heart rate baroreflex activity, respectively. Vascular tone baroreflex gain and power in two peaks in the 0.05–0.08 Hz range were associated with years of drinking in the binge drinking group. Vascular dysfunction may be an early indicator of drinking‐related change in the cardiovascular system.