Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32426178›Full record

ArticleGlobal advances in health and medicine2020

Brain and Physiological Markers of Autonomic Function Are Associated With Treatment-Related Improvements in Self-Reported Autonomic Dysfunction in Veterans With Gulf War Illness: An Exploratory Pilot Study.

Danielle C Mathersul, Carla M Eising, Danielle D DeSouza, David Spiegel, Peter J Bayley

Abstract read
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Article in Global advances in health and medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Children With PANS May Manifest POTS.Frontiers in neurology · 2022
    Article
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  5. Review
4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Danielle C MathersulWar Related Illness and Injury Study Center, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2372-8654
Carla M EisingDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.
Danielle D DeSouzaDepartment of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.
David SpiegelDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.
Peter J BayleyWar Related Illness and Injury Study Center, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundGulf War Illness (GWI) is a poorly understood condition characterized by a constellation of mood, cognitive, and physical symptoms. A growing body of evidence demonstrates autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction. Few published treatment studies exist for GWI.

methodWe recently completed a randomized controlled trial comparing a 10-week group yoga intervention to 10-week group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for veterans with GWI. Here, we present exploratory data on ANS biomarkers of treatment response from a small pilot exploratory neurophysiological add-on study (n = 13) within that larger study.

resultsFindings suggest that veterans with GWI receiving either yoga or CBT for pain improved following treatment and that changes in biological ANS-especially for the yoga group-moved in the direction of healthy profiles: lower heart rate, higher square root of the mean squared differences between successive R-R intervals (RMSSD), greater parasympathetic activation/dominance (increased high-frequency heart rate variability [HF-HRV], decreased low-frequency/high-frequency [LF/HF] ratio), reduced right amygdala volume, and stronger amygdala-default mode/amygdala-salience network connectivity, both immediately posttreatment and at 6-month follow-up. Biological mechanisms of CBT appeared to underlie improvements in more psychologically loaded symptoms such as self-reported fatigue and energy. Higher tonic arousal and/or more sympathetic dominance (higher skin conductance, lower RMSSD, lower HF-HRV, higher LF/HF ratio) pretreatment predicted greater treatment-related improvements in self-reported ANS for both the yoga and CBT group.

conclusionThese exploratory pilot data provide preliminary support for the suggestion that treatment (yoga, CBT) is associated with improvements in both biological and self-reported ANS dysfunctions in GWI. The major limitation for these findings is the small sample size. Larger and more controlled studies are needed to replicate these findings and directly compare biomarkers of yoga versus CBT.

Indexed as

amygdalacognitive behavioral therapydefault mode networkGulf War Illnessheart rate variabilitysalience networkyoga

Identifiers

PMID32426178
PMCPMC7218338

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.