Brief Report: Can a Composite Heart Rate Variability Biomarker Shed New Insights About Autism Spectrum Disorder in School-Aged Children?

Several studies show altered heart rate variability (HRV) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but findings are neither universal nor specific to ASD. We apply a set of linear and nonlinear HRV measures—including phase rectified signal averaging—to segments of resting ECG data collected from school-age children with ASD, age-matched typically developing controls, and children with other psychiatric conditions characterized by altered HRV (conduct...