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The LF/HF ratio does not accurately measure cardiac sympatho-vagal balance
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OPINION article Front. Physiol., 20 February 2013Sec. Clinical and Translational Physiology Volume 4 - 2013 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2013.00026
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“It should be noted, though, that sympathetic and parasympathetic activity are not reciprocal, but interact in a loosely coupled fashion (e.g. Billman, 2013; de Geus et al., 2019).”
From Trauma-related dissociation and the autonomic nervous system: a systematic literature review of psychophysiological correlates of dissociative experiencing in PTSD patients (2022) · cites this paper as Billman, 2013
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“Under ordinary circumstances, HF decreases indicate decreased parasympathetic and increased sympathetic activation [36, 48, 49]”
From The Influence of Buddhist Meditation Traditions on the Autonomic System and Attention (2015) · cites this paper as [36]
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“Hence, there is now a consensus to say that the precise physiological underpinning is unclear, thus lowering its predictive value.”
From Heart Rate Variability and Cardiac Vagal Tone in Psychophysiological Research – Recommendations for Experiment Planning, Data Analysis, and Data Reporting (2017) · cites this paper as Billman, 2013
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“However, this view has been highly criticized (Eckberg, 1997; Billman, 2013).”
BackgroundShaffer, F., McCraty, R., & Zerr, C. L. (2014) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01040 · Cited by 1,866
Anxiety Disorders are Associated with Reduced Heart Rate Variability: A Meta-Analysis
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“There is an ongoing debate as to the interpretation of LF HRV (85, 87), and consequently there are sound arguments against the utility and meaningfulness of the oft reported measure LF/HF ratio (88, 89).”
BackgroundThe anatomical basis for transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation
Butt, M. F., Albusoda, A., Farmer, A. D., & Aziz, Q. (2019) · Journal of Anatomy · doi:10.1111/joa.13122 · Cited by 616
Metadata
- Authors
- Billman, G. E.
- Affiliations
- The Ohio State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Billman, George E.
- Venue
- Frontiers in Physiology
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2013
- Volume
- 4
- Pages
- 26-26
- ISSN
- 1664-042X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3576706
- OpenAlex
- W2107161633
- Cited by
- 1,401
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 177 · 2025: 140 · 2024: 122 · 2023: 123 · 2022: 134 · 2021: 130 · 2020: 115 · 2019: 107 · 2018: 121 · 2017: 98 · 2016: 54 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 29 · 2013: 14
- FWCI
- 30.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Frontiers in Physiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Vagus Nerve Stimulation Research
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Non-Invasive Vital Sign Monitoring
- Keywords
- LF/HF ratio, heart rate variability, autonomic nervous system
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