Heart Rate Variability Metrics during Sleep in Children with Asperger’s Syndrome

Abstract Purpose: To describe the characteristics of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) metrics during sleep in children with Asperger Syndrome (AS) and children with Typical Development (TD). Methods: Children aged 6 to 10 years diagnosed with AS (n = 10) and TD (n = 10) were included in the study. Polysomnographic recordings were performed on two consecutive nights, the first night being the adaptation night and the second being used for the analysis of the characteristics of sleep and HRV metrics. Results: Inter-subject analysis showed that children with AS had a shorter heart period in all sleep stages, as well as higher REM sleep latency and fewer sleep cycles compared with children with TD. Likewise, measures related to parasympathetic activity were similar between both groups. Intra-subject analysis showed that children with AS had minimal differences between all sleep stages with most measures of the three domain methods of HRV analysis, while the children with TD presented an HRV according to the characteristics of each stage of sleep. Conclusion: Children with AS showed little autonomic flexibility when moving from one sleep stage to another, evaluated with the three-domain methods of HRV analysis. These results could indicate some degree of immaturity in sleep-related circuits in children with AS, which in turn affects HRV.