Respiratory sinus arrhythmia in the fourth decade of life depends on birth weight and the DRD4 gene: Implications for understanding the development of emotion regulation

INTRODUCTION: The long allele of the DRD4 gene can confer different behavioral and emotional phenotypes depending upon environmental exposure, although the physiological changes underlying these phenotypes are not fully known. We sought to extend this work by assessing the interaction of the DRD4 gene and exposure to perinatal adversity (indexed by extremely low birth weight [ELBW]) on resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a …