Heart rate variability, 'Antrieb' (drive, impulse) and a frontal lobe task

Introduction: Heart rate variability (HRV) was occasionally utilized with regard to single psychopathological signs and symptoms. German psychopathology uses the rather global term 'Antrieb' (engl.: drive, impulse), originated in 1909 by Karl Kleist. Historically, this item has been subdivided into 'Eigenantrieb' (intrinsic drive) and 'Fremdantrieb' (extrinsic drive). Particularly with regard to current neurobiological theories, a 'basal Antrieb' in the sense of a bodily activation reaction has to be distinguished from other 'Antrieb' components. Considering this aspects, we investigated in which extent spectral…