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Cited by 1,133Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic ControlVagus Nerve Stimulation ResearchNeuroscience of respiration and sleep

Toward understanding respiratory sinus arrhythmia: relations to cardiac vagal tone, evolution and biobehavioral functions

Grossman, Paul, Taylor, Edwin W.·2007·Biological Psychology
DOI 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2005.11.014
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Abstract

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA, or high-frequency heart-rate variability) is frequently employed as an index of cardiac vagal tone or even believed to be a direct measure of vagal tone. However, there are many significant caveats regarding vagal tone interpretation: 1. Respiratory parameters can confound relations between RSA and cardiac vagal tone.2. Although intraindividual relations between RSA and cardiac vagal control are often strong, interindividual associations may be modest.3. RSA measurement is profoundly influenced by concurrent levels of momentary physical activity, which can bias estimation of individual differences in vagal tone.4. RSA magnitude is affected by beta-adrenergic tone.5. RSA and cardiac vagal tone can dissociate under certain circumstances.6. The polyvagal theory contains evolution-based speculations that relate RSA, vagal tone and behavioral phenomena. We present evidence that the polyvagal theory does not accurately depict evolution of vagal control of heart-rate variability, and that it ignores the phenomenon of cardiac aliasing and disregards the evolution of a functional role for vagal control of the heart, from cardiorespiratory synchrony in fish to RSA in mammals. Unawareness of these issues can lead to misinterpretation of cardiovascular autonomic mechanisms. On the other hand, RSA has been shown to often provide a reasonable reflection of cardiac vagal tone when the above-mentioned complexities are considered. Finally, a recent hypothesis is expanded upon, in which RSA plays a primary role in regulation of energy exchange by means of synchronizing respiratory and cardiovascular processes during metabolic and behavioral change.

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  • HRV does not reflect exclusively cardiac control systems.

    “HRV does not reflect exclusively cardiac control systems.”

    From Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children Is Not Associated With Abnormal Autonomic Nervous System Function: Hypothesis and Theory (2022) · cites this paper as [17]

  • The assumption that in humans the vagal chronotropic fibers traveling from the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus to the heart are functionally dormant may not be accurate.

    “Although it has been assumed that in humans the vagal chronotropic fibers traveling from the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus to the heart are functionally dormant [59], this assumption may not be accurate.”

    From The vagal paradox: A polyvagal solution (2023) · cites this paper as [59]

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Authors
Grossman, P., & Taylor, E. W.
Affiliations
  • University Hospital of Basel (CH)
  • University of Birmingham (GB)
Corresponding author
Grossman, Paul
ORCID
Venue
Biological Psychology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2007-02
Volume
74
Issue
2
Pages
263-285
ISSN
0301-0511 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.biopsycho.2005.11.014
OpenAlex
W2128107556
Cited by
1,133
References
187
Citations by year
2026: 60 · 2025: 73 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 75 · 2022: 78 · 2021: 71 · 2020: 63 · 2019: 75 · 2018: 58 · 2017: 64 · 2016: 58 · 2015: 57 · 2014: 55 · 2013: 62 · 2012: 59
FWCI
16.62
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Biological Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Vagus Nerve Stimulation Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroscience of respiration and sleep
Keywords
respiratory sinus arrhythmia, cardiac vagal tone, heart rate variability, polyvagal theory, cardiovascular autonomic regulation
MeSH terms
Arrhythmia, Sinus, Cardiovascular Diseases, Biological Evolution, Heart Rate, Humans, Motor Activity, Parasympathetic Nervous System, Respiratory Physiological Phenomena, Vagus Nerve

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