Age-related changes in heart rate variability from the neonatal period to adulthood

The aim of the study was to reveal the regularities of the age-related dynamics of the frequency-dependent regulation of heart rate variability (HRV) based on the analysis of Holter ECG recordings from healthy subjects of 4 age groups: neonates, one-year-old infants, adolescents and adults. A wide spectral composition of HRV is shown, consisting of 9 Gilbert-Huang modes in the frequency range from 0.0001 to 2 Hz. A decrease in the central frequencies of all modes is shown in the postnatal period with a plateau in adolescence. A rapid progression of systemic humoral regulation of HRV, characterized by a consolidated increase in the amplitudes of the corresponding modes with a plateau in adolescence, is demonstrated. The dome-shaped character of age-related changes in amplitude of modes associated with autonomic control with a maximum in adolescence is shown. The results obtained quantitatively demonstrate age-related consolidated changes in HRV parameters from neonates to adulthood.