Purposes: A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the differences in heart rate variability (HRV) between depressed patients and healthy individuals, with the purpose of providing a theoretical basis for the diagnosis of depression and the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.Methods: To search China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WanFang, VIP, PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, and Cochrane Library databases to collect case–control studies on HRV in depressed patients, the retrieval date is from the establishment of the database to December 2022. Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) scale was used to evaluate literature quality, and Stata14.0 software was used for meta-analysis.Results: This study comprised of 43 papers, 22 written in Chinese and 21 in English, that included 2,359 subjects in the depression group and 3,547 in the healthy control group. Meta-analysis results showed that compared with the healthy control group, patients with depression had lower SDNN [Hedges’ g = −0.87, 95% CI (−1.14, −0.60), Z = −6.254, p < 0.01], RMSSD [Hedges’ g = −0.51, 95% CI (−0.69,-0.33), Z = −5.525, p < 0.01], PNN50 [Hedges’ g = −0.43, 95% CI (−0.59, −0.27), Z = −5.245, p < 0.01], LF [Hedges’ g = −0.34, 95% CI (−0.55, − 0.13), Z = −3.104, p < 0.01], and HF [Hedges’ g = −0.51, 95% CI (−0.69, −0.33), Z = −5.669 p < 0.01], and LF/HF [Hedges’ g = −0.05, 95% CI (−0.27, 0.18), Z = −0.410, p = 0.682] showed no significant difference.Conclusion: This research revealed that HRV measures of depressed individuals were lower than those of the healthy population, except for LF/HF, suggesting that people with depression may be more at risk of cardiovascular diseases than the healthy population.

This paper aims to assess the effect of exercise intervention on the improvement of college students with depression and to explore the change characteristics of microstates and the power spectrum in their resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG). Forty female college students with moderate depression were screened according to the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Depression Self-Rating Scale (SDS) scores, and half of them received an exercise intervention for 18 weeks. The study utilized an EEG to define the resting-state networks, and the scores of all the participants were tracked during the intervention. Compared with those in the depression group, the power spectrum values in the θ and α bands were significantly decreased (p < 0.05), and the duration of microstate C increased significantly (p < 0.05), while the frequency of microstate B decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in the exercise intervention group. The transition probabilities showed that the exercise intervention group had a higher probability from B to D than those in the depression group (p < 0.01). In addition, the power of the δ and α bands were negatively correlated with the occurrence of microstate C (r = −0.842, p < 0.05 and r = −0.885, p < 0.01, respectively), and the power of the β band was positively correlated with the duration of microstate C (r = 0.900, p < 0.01) after exercise intervention. Our results suggest that the decreased duration of microstate C and the increased α power in depressed students are associated with reduced cognitive ability, emotional stability, and brain activity. Depression symptoms were notably improved after exercise intervention, thus providing a more scientific index for the research, rehabilitation mechanisms, and treatment of depression.

Performing high-intensity exercise (HIE) in the morning under sleep deprivation may harm the health benefits related to sufficient sleep and HIE. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the effects of acute-partial sleep deprivation on HIE performance and cardiac autonomic activity by monitoring heart rate variability (HRV) indices. Twenty-nine healthy male adolescents in college were recruited to perform a one-time HIE session on the treadmill (Bruce protocol) after ≥7 h of normal control sleep (control) and after ≤4 h of acute-partial sleep deprivation (SD). At the beginning of control and SD periods and after exercising under the two sleep conditions, heart rate (HR), standard deviation of normal to normal (SDNN), square root of the mean squared differences of successive NN intervals (RMSSD), normalized low frequency power (LFn), normalized high frequency power (HFn), number of pairs adjacent NN intervals differing by ≥50 ms in the entire recording count divided by the total number of all NN intervals (pNN50), and short axis and long axis value in Poincaré plot (SD1 and SD2) were measured at rest in an upright sitting position. The participants slept 7.63 ± 0.52 and 3.78 ± 0.69 h during control and SD periods, respectively (p < 0.001). Compared with the control participants, those suffering sleep deprivation experienced a significant decrease in exercise duration, RMSSD, HFn, SD1, and pNN50 as well as a significant increase in maximum heart rate during exercise (p < 0.05). SDNN, RMSSD, HFn, SD1, and pNN50 decreased significantly after exercise (p < 0.05 and 0.01 and 0.001, respectively). In summary, acute-partial sleep deprivation affected aerobic exercise performance the next morning and led to decreased cardiac vagus activity and cardiac autonomic dysfunction.

Insufficient sleep causes muscle fatigue, impacting performance. The mechanism of brain–muscle signaling remains uncertain. In this study, we examined the impact of sleep deprivation on muscle endurance during isometric contractions and explored the changes in brain–muscle connectivity. Methods: The research involved 35 right-handed male participants who took part in an exercise test that included isometric contractions of the left and right biceps in both sleep-deprived and well-rested states. Muscle contraction duration and electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) signals were recorded. Functional connectivity between brain regions was assessed using the phase locking value (PLV), while partial directed coherence (PDC) was used to analyze signal directionality between motor centers and muscles. Results: The connectivity strength between Brodmann areas (BAs) 1-5 and the right BA6, 8 regions was significantly decreased in the isometric contractions after sleep deprivation. Insufficient sleep enhanced the PDC signals from the motor center of the right brain to the left biceps, and it decreased the PDC signals from both biceps to their opposite motor centers. Conclusions: Sleep deprivation shortened muscle isometric contraction duration by affecting the interaction between the somatosensory motor cortex and the right premotor cortex, reducing biceps feedback signal connectivity to the contralateral motor center in the brain.

This study systematically examines the relationship between mindfulness and metacognition among Chinese college students through a person-centered analytical approach. Using latent profile analysis (LPA) of Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) responses, we identified four distinct mindfulness profiles: (1) High Observation/Low Non-reactivity, (2) High Awareness/Judging, (3) Moderately Mindful, and (4) Highly Mindful. Gender differences were observed across profiles, with female students more represented in the Highly Mindful group. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that mindfulness profiles significantly predicted metacognitive ability, with the Highly Mindful group demonstrating superior metacognitive self-regulation and learning strategy application. These findings contribute to the literature by identifying distinct mindfulness subtypes and their differential relationships with metacognition. The results suggest that educational interventions emphasizing non-judgmental present-moment awareness may be particularly effective for fostering students’ metacognitive development, while highlighting the importance of considering individual differences in mindfulness training approaches.

This study aimed to revise the updated Chinese version of the Runco Ideation Behavior Scale (RIBS) and evaluate its reliability and validity among college students in Chinese Mainland. A total of 689 students completed the RIBS along with the College Students' Metacognitive Ability Scale and Creative Self-efficacy Scale as criterion measures. 488 of these participants were retested after an 8-week interval for test-retest reliability analysis while data from 825 primary and secondary school students were used for robustness analysis. EFA and CFA results indicated that 7 items with poor psychometric properties were eliminated, resulting in a 16-item revised RIBS with a stable two-factor structure (Openness-divergence, Premature closure) that was consistent with the original scale; the bifactor model of this structure showed excellent model fit (SRMR = 0.042, CFI = 0.937, TLI = 0.913, RMSEA = 0.074). Multi-group CFA confirmed strict measurement invariance (configural, metric, scalar) of the 16-item RIBS across gender, ethnicity, and only-child status. The revised scale exhibited high internal consistency (Cronbach's α: total scale = 0.910, subscales = 0.840-0.901) and acceptable 8-week test-retest reliability (ICC: 0.651-0.685). Significant positive correlations were observed between the revised RIBS's total and subscale scores and metacognitive ability, as well as creative self-efficacy and TTCT task, supporting good criterion-related validity. A supplementary sensitivity analysis with an expanded sample of 825 students (7-17 years) further verified the structural stability of the scale across different age and educational stages. The updated Chinese version of the RIBS demonstrates satisfactory psychometric properties among Chinese students and can be used to assess their everyday creativity.