Diurnal variation of autonomic nervous activity in the rat: investigation by power spectral analysis of heart rate variability.

We studied the diurnal variations of autonomic nervous function in rats. For this purpose, a long-term electrocardiogram (ECG) was recorded from conscious and unrestrained rats using a telemetry system, and the autonomic nervous function was investigated by the power spectral analysis of heart rate variability. No arrhythmias were observed in the ECG of any of the rats. Nocturnal patterns, in which the values of heart rate in the dark phase (2000-0600) were higher than those in the light phase (0600-2000), were observed. All normal rats shared a characteristic pattern in their power spectrum analysis. Both low-frequency and high-frequency power in the light phase were higher than those in the dark phase. However, these differences were not statistically significant (P > .05). The low frequency to high frequency ratio also showed a nocturnal pattern. The value in the dark phase was significantly higher (P < .05) than that in the light phase. These results suggest that the sympathetic nervous activity is predominant in the dark phase in rats. Therefore, we believe that this information may be useful for future biobehavioral studies.