Heart Rate Variability: New Perspectives on Physiological Mechanisms, Assessment of Self-regulatory Capacity, and Health Risk

Abstract

Heart rate variability, the change in the time intervals between adjacent heartbeats, is an emergent property of interdependent regulatory systems that operates on different time scales to adapt to environmental and psychological challenges. This article briefly reviews neural regulation of the heart and offers some new perspectives on mechanisms underlying the very low frequency rhythm of heart rate variability. Interpretation of heart rate variability rhythms in the context of health risk and physiological and psychological self-regulatory capacity assessment is discussed. The cardiovascular regulatory centers in the spinal cord and medulla integrate inputs from higher brain centers with afferent cardiovascular system inputs to adjust heart rate and blood pressure via sympathetic and parasympathetic efferent pathways. We also discuss the intrinsic cardiac nervous system and the heart-brain connection pathways, through which afferent information can influence activity in the subcortical, frontocortical, and motor cortex areas. In addition, the use of real-time HRV feedback to increase self-regulatory capacity is reviewed. We conclude that the heart's rhythms are characterized by both complexity and stability over longer time scales that reflect both physiological and psychological functional status of these internal self-regulatory systems.

Influence of HeartMath Training Programme on Physiological and Psychological Variables

“…Large effect sizes were found in the current study for physiological HRV, sense of coherence, relaxation and mood, which support the recent meta-analysis by Goessl, Curtiss and Hofmann (2017). The findings of the present research confirm previous quantitative studies that have found HRV-BF interventions beneficial for improving coherence, heart rate variability and reducing stress in healthy populations (Edwards, 2014;McCraty et al, 2015).…”

“…The present study extended findings of other studies indicating associations between HeartMath practice and improved positive emotional states, perception of mindfulness and relaxation (Edwards, 2014;McCraty et al, 2015;Reiner, Atkinson, & McCraty, 2008). This contemporary study provides evidence that by using measures of HRV it is possible to quantify the dynamic measure of stress and how this variable is reactive to current emotional states and changes in breath (Lemaire, Wallace, Lewin, de Grood, & Schaefer, 2011).…”

“…This contemporary study provides evidence that by using measures of HRV it is possible to quantify the dynamic measure of stress and how this variable is reactive to current emotional states and changes in breath (Lemaire, Wallace, Lewin, de Grood, & Schaefer, 2011). Collectively, the results from this current study, together with the literature, provide evidence that biofeedback interventions offer a promising contemporary approach to promoting self-regulation as a form of stress management, with improved measures of both physiological and psychological health (McCraty et al, 2015;Edwards, 2014).…”

Bidirectional asymmetry in the neurovisceral communication for the cardiovascular control: New insights

“…Such a large connection would mainly involve the ANS and the endocrine system. Th is connection implicates a bidirectional neuroendocrine interaction between the brain and peripheral organs regulating the vital physiologic processes for survival such as glucose metabolism or CVC (Prieto et al 2014a;McCraty and Shaff er 2015;Ramsay and Woods 2014), as well as a coordinated global response under stress. Th is integrative response would involve interactions between diff erent central areas, such as prefrontal cortex (PFC), amygdala (AM) or hippocampus (HC) (Hernandez et al 2015), as well as bidirectional interactions between some of these areas and peripheral tissues or blood (Segarra et al 2012, in which the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) would play a major role.…”

Septoplasty and tonsillectomy: acute stress response as a measure of effectiveness of local anesthetics

“…Очень низкие частоты (VLF) сердечного ритма изучали по значениям SDNN (мс) index, который характеризует средние значения 5-минутных стандартных отклонений интервалов R-R, вычисленных за 24 ч. Кроме того, нами рассматривались и значения высокочастотного компонента (HF) сердечного ритма, которому соответствует значения rMSSD (мс), -корень квадратный из суммы разностей последовательно-го ряда интервалов R-R [20,21]. Снижение ULF и VLF свидетельствует об относительном преобладании дей-ствия симпатической нервной системы, а снижение HF -о понижении действия парасимпатической части веге-тативной нервной системы [22].…”