National Library of Medicine: IGM
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TITLE:
Vegetative background of sleep: spectral analysis
of the heart rate variability.
AUTHOR:
Scholz UJ; Bianchi AM; Cerutti S; Kubicki S
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Neurology, UKRV, Freie
Universitaet, Berlin, Germany. uscholz@neuro.charite.hu-berlin.de
SOURCE:
Physiol Behav 1997 Nov;62(5):1037-43
NLM CIT. ID:
97472372
ABSTRACT:
Phasic events during sleep, either arousal or
REM-burst related, and the associated transient cardiovascular responses have been the
subject of intensive research in previous studies. However, nontransient (stationary)
fluctuations in heart rate have been studied less extensively in the past. They allow a
differentiation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic activation, which are related to a
low-frequency (LF) and a high-frequency (HF) component of the heart rate variability (HRV)
signal, respectively. The resulting LF/HF ratio is a quantitative index of the
sympatho-vagal balance. Sleep polygrams from 20 healthy volunteers were recorded in a
sleep laboratory. Standard vegetative tests (orthostatic and Valsalva tests) were
evaluated. A segmentation procedure, performed on the HRV signal, separated 70-130
transients during the night from the records of stationary heart rate fluctuations. From
these periods the sympatho-vagal balance, quantified by the LF/HF, was computed by means
of spectral analysis. The more synchronized the sleep was, the more the LF/HF decreased,
whereas the LF/HF was significantly increased during REM sleep, indicating a sympathetic
predominance during this period. Such an increase was also evident during the last 15 min
before REM sleep onset. Results suggest that spectral analysis of the HRV provides
additional information of the ultradian rhythmic behavior of the autonomic nervous system
function beyond the traditional cardiovascular measurements (mean heart rate, blood
pressure, etc.). In contrast to these measurements, which generally show a continuously
decreasing cardiovascular activity, as the night proceeds, the results of this study
reveal a high sympathetic peak activity during the later REM sleep periods, which is
comparable in magnitude to that found in the upright position in wakefulness. This
activity may be associated to the well-known incidence peak of ischemic events in the
early morning hours.
Arousal/PHYSIOLOGY
Fourier Analysis
Heart/INNERVATION
Human
Reference Values
Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
Sleep, REM/PHYSIOLOGY
Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Sympathetic Nervous System/PHYSIOLOGY
Vagus Nerve/PHYSIOLOGY
PUBLICATION TYPES:
JOURNAL ARTICLE
LANGUAGE:
Eng
On Sabbatical!
When my office
lease expired at the end of 2004, I decided to turn it into a
"sabbatical" from my private practice. Many years ago, in my
grandfather's 89th year of life, he told me, "John, it is important
to smell the roses while you can still smell them." His life
gave living a very good reputation. It is also true that the
pursuit of that philosophy required my grandfather to to re-open his
assay office/ore market in Wickenburg, Arizona as a 75-year-old because
he had run a little short of retirement money. Thus, if blessed with his
luck and health, I'll be back.. --jjh
