Recent findings from the 11th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology indicate that lower heart rate variability (HRV) during sleep could signify early neurodegenerative changes in patients with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD). Conducted by researchers at University Hospital Inselspital, a case-control study with 17 iRBD patients and 102 matched controls revealed significant differences in HRV metrics, suggesting that autonomic dysfunction may precede conditions like Parkinson's disease. The study highlights the potential of sleep HRV as a biomarker for predicting neurodegeneration.

Source: European Journal of Neurology