Vagally mediated HRV predicting ESST performance (post
stimulation)
The linear regression revealed a significant effect of vmHRV reactivity
on SSRT with phasic increases in vmHRV during the ESST predicting faster
SSRTs and vice versa, β = -4.09, SE = 1.93, t (51) =
2.12, p < .05. We further found the interaction between
tonic and phasic CVA to exert a significant effect on SSRTs, β =
0.05, SE = 0.03, t (51) = 2.20, p < .05
(see Table 3). A post-hoc simple slope analysis revealed that the effect
of vmHRV reactivity on ESST performance differed significantly between
participants with high and low resting vmHRV (see Table 4). Compared to
participants with high resting vmHRV, an increase/decrease of vmHRV
during the ESST predicted faster/slower SSRTs in participants with low
resting vmHRV (see Figure 2). Additionally, the results of the linear
regression show a significant effect of age on ESST performance, in that
higher age predicted slower SSRTs, β = 4.49, SE = 1.69,t (51) = 2.65, p < .05. No further significant
associations were found (see Table 3).