Cognitions and heart rate in panic disorder during everyday activity

Recent theoretical advances and some experimental data have suggested that cognitions play an important role in the etiology and maintenance of panic attacks and panic disorder. However, the relationship between cognitive and physiological responses of patients with panic disorder is still unclear. This paper presents the results of a study of the relationship between cognition and physiology in patients in the natural environment. Heart rate and cognitions were sampled during a period of normal daily activity to assess the role of cognitions and physiology in five subjects with panic disorder. Two panic attacks were recorded with high heart rate and negative cognitions. There was some evidence to suggest a global bias for reporting negative cognitions, particularly in subjects who experienced panic attacks. However, this was unrelated to heart rates