Sample Entropy of the Heart Rate Reflects Properties of the System Organization of Behaviour

Abstract

Cardiac activity is involved in the processes of organization of goal-directed behaviour. Each behavioural act is aimed at achieving an adaptive outcome and it is subserved by the actualization of functional systems consisting of elements distributed across the brain and the rest of the body. This paper proposes a system-evolutionary view on the activity of the heart and its variability. We have compared the irregularity of the heart rate, as measured by sample entropy (SampEn), in behaviours that are subserved by functional systems formed at different stages of individual development, which implement organism-environment interactions with different degrees of differentiation. The results have shown that SampEn of the heart rate was higher during performing tasks that included later acquired knowledge (foreign language vs. native language; mathematical vocabulary vs. general vocabulary) and decreased in the stress and alcohol conditions, as well as at the beginning of learning. These results are in line with the hypothesis that irregularity of the heart rate reflects the properties of a set of functional systems subserving current behaviour, with higher irregularity corresponding to later acquired and more complex behaviour.

Complexity of heart rate variability during moral judgement of actions and omissions

“…Any behaviour can be described as a dynamic process of actualization of functional systems and formation of new functional systems (learning) within the organism-environment interactions. In this view, HRV originates in co-operation of cardiovascular and other components of actualized functional systems, including neuronal groups, and reflects complexity of the dynamics of current organism-environment interactions ( Bakhchina et al., 2018 ). Overall, complex interactions with the environment, including those in social contexts, require a complex dynamics of psychophysiological processes supporting this particular behaviour, which is reflected in higher complexity of HRV.…”

“…Complex interactions with the environment require a complex dynamics of psychophysiological processes, which can be described using non-linear measures, such as PE and other entropy measures. For example, in our previous work we demonstrated that complexity of HRV was higher when individuals were solving more difficult tasks, such as using foreign language as opposed to using native language and completing sentences about complex mathematical concepts as opposed to sentences about simple everyday concepts (see Bakhchina et al., 2018 ). Thus, our theoretical approach and experimental results suggest that higher complexity of HRV corresponds to more complex physiological processes supporting individual behaviour in the environment.…”

“…The complex dynamics of biological systems is typically characterized by a rich temporal structure which can be successfully described by PE and methods derived from it; for example, as demonstrated in the studies of HRV complexity under various physiological and behavioural conditions (e.g., see Parlitz et al., 2012 ; Bian et al., 2012 ; Carricarte Naranjo et al., 2017 ; Schlemmer et al., 2018 etc.). In our previous work ( Bakhchina et al., 2018 ), based on the foundations of the system-evolutionary theory ( Shvyrkov, 1990 ; Alexandrov et al., 1997 , 2017 ) and P.K. Anokhin's theory of functional systems ( Anokhin, 1974 ), we suggested that HRV reflects the dynamics of the organism-environment interactions at the level of neurovisceral processes, i.e.…”

Magnetotelluric Signal-Noise Identification and Separation Based on ApEn-MSE and StOMP

“…SampEn is a time series complexity measure method, which has the advantages of simple calculation and fast speed [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. The larger the sample entropy, the more random or irregular the sequence and the lower the self-similarity.…”

Evaluation of Systems’ Irregularity and Complexity: Sample Entropy, Its Derivatives, and Their Applications across Scales and Disciplines

“…Bakhchina et al were interested in the “mind–body” relationship and explored how the system organization of behavior could be reflected in the irregularity of the heart rate, as measured by sample entropy [ 8 ]. Thus, they proposed a model explaining HRV in relation to neuronal processes in the brain.…”