Heart rate variability as an index of cue reactivity in alcoholics

Background: Autonomic responses follow exposure to conditioned stimuli such as contextual factors associated with alcohol ingestion. Heart rate variability is under autonomic control a,td may be a measure of such response. Methods: Twenty alcoholics and 23 matched social drinkers (all male) were exposed to a neutral cue and then an alcohol are in identical settings, during which the Electrocardiogram of these subjects was recorded, Time and frequency domain parameters of heart rate viability (HRV) were computed by a blind rater. Results: Coefficient of variation of R-R intervals and absolute powers of HRV spectrum (ill frequency bands 0.05-0.15 Hz and 0.01-0.05 Hz) following alcohol cue ,I ere significantly higher ill alcoholics than social drinkers. The mean heart rate (MHR) failed to reflect this difference. Conclusions: HRV paradigm appears more sensitive than MHR to measure cue reactivity. (C) 1998 Society of Biological Psychiatry.