Heartbeat Linked to Low Female Libido
AUSTIN, Texas, June 19 (UPI) — Sexual dysfunction and low sexual arousal in women have been linked to low resting heart rate variability, according to a new study.
Heat rate variability, or HRV, is a variation in the time between heartbeats that has been linked with mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, alcohol dependence and male erectile dysfunction.
“Because HRV has been related to many negative mental health and cardiac problems, it’s interesting to bring an established clinical marker into sex research,” said Amelia Stanton, a University of Texas Austin graduate researcher, in a press release. “It allows us to look at the issue of sexual dysfunction in women in a different way.”
HRV is a measure of the autonomic nervous system, which is made up of the sympathetic nervous system, or the body’s flight or fight response, and the parasympathetic nervous system, or the body’s involuntary actions, such as breathing and heartbeat.
Researchers analyzed HRV and self-reported data from 72 women using the Female Sexual Function Index, finding that women with below average heart rate variability were more likely to experience both sexual dysfunction and low sexual arousal.
Stanton said that as a result of HRV creating several potential mental health concerns means that women are more likely to be aware of their potential to experience sexual dysfunction.
The study is published in Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.
