Conscious processing of narrative stimuli synchronizes heart rate across individuals

DOI: https : //doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109692

Explanation

Heart rate is believed to have natural variability that is usually attributed to autonomic nervous system function.

Evidence from recent studies suggests that conscious processing may influence the timing of the heartbeat, and postulates that heart rate is modulated by conscious processing and is dependent on the focus of attention.

To prove this hypothesis, the researchers tested that neural processes could be synchronized across subjects by presenting identical narrative stimuli.

As predicted by the researchers, significant intersubject correlations in heart rate (ISC-HR) were observed when subjects were presented with auditory or audiovisual narratives. This shows that, consistent with the hypothesis, ISC-HR decreases when subjects are distracted from the story, and the higher the ISC-HR, the better the story recall.

This led the study to conclude that heart rate variability is partially driven by conscious processing, is dependent on attentional state, and may represent a simple metric for assessing conscious state in unresponsive patients.