A Brief Review and Clinical Application of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback in Sports, Exercise, and Rehabilitation Medicine

Abstract

The assessment and management of psychosocial stress is a challenging but important component of effective comprehensive lifestyle interventions for the management of noncommunicable disease. It is, therefore, important for the sports and exercise physician to have an understanding of the therapeutic use of HRV modulation, both in the reduction of stress and in the management of chronic disease.

Short-term pulse rate variability is better characterized by functional near-infrared spectroscopy than by photoplethysmography

“…In 1996, a task force 31 specified standards for calculating PRV measures and reporting results, which have been considered in the present study. Accuracy of the ECG has since then been investigated in numerous studies in health and disease, [1][2][3][4] and the correlation with both PRV PPG 7 and PRV NIRS 25 under resting conditions has been reported to be high.…”

“…The usefulness of HRV as a tool for basic research as well as for medical diagnostic purposes to assess the function of the autonomic nervous system has been verified in numerous studies. [1][2][3][4] The gold standard is the analysis of interbeat (RR) intervals derived from electrocardiography (ECG). Alternatively, pulse cycle intervals variability based on blood flow pulsations (i.e., PRV) can be derived from pulse oximetry, i.e., photoplethysmography (PPG) (PRV PPG ).…”

Immediate increases in quadriceps corticomotor excitability during an electromyography biofeedback intervention

“…Biofeedback is a common clinical modality used to provide realtime information regarding a physiological event or series of events that would typically not be perceived by the user (Prinsloo et al, 2014;Mirelman et al, 2011;Wood and Kipp, 2014;Crowell et al, 2010). Surface electromyographic biofeedback (EMG-BF) externally focuses the attention of the user away from the exclusive attempt to contract the intended muscle, and toward an outward cue that represents the underlying muscle activation (Giggins et al, 2013;McNevin et al, 2003).…”

The changes in maximal oxygen uptake (V̊O2MAX) induced by physical exertion during an Antarctic expedition depend on the initial V̊O2MAX of the individuals: a case study of the Brazilian expedition

“…Moreover, modifications in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, which can be determined through the non-invasive monitoring of the resting heart rate variability (HRV), have been associated with training-induced changes in aerobic fitness in both sedentary [9] and trained subjects [9,10]. Effective training stimuli with adequate recovery periods increase HRV and improve sympathovagal balance by increasing vagal tone in healthy individuals [11] or patients [12]. Thus, we hypothesise that increases in aerobic capacity after an Antarctic expedition (which are more likely in less-conditioned individuals) would be associated with lower HR during submaximal exercise, resulting from reductions in cardiac sympathetic activity and increases in parasympathetic activity.…”