Denver John W, Reed Shawn F, Porges Stephen W
University of Illinois at Chicago, The Brain-Body Center, Chicago, IL 60608, USA.
Biol Psychol. 2007 Feb;74(2):286-94. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2005.09.005. Epub 2006 Oct 25.
Although respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is a commonly quantified physiological variable, the methods for quantification are not consistent. This manuscript questions the assumption that respiration frequency needs to be manipulated or monitored to generate an accurate measure of RSA amplitude. A review of recent papers is presented that contrast RSA amplitude with measures that use respiratory parameters to adjust RSA amplitude. In addition, data from two studies are presented to evaluate empirically both the relation between RSA amplitude and respiration frequency and the covariation between RSA frequency and respiration frequency. The literature review demonstrates similar findings between both classes of measures. The first study demonstrates, during spontaneous breathing without task demands, that there is no relation between respiration frequency and RSA amplitude and that respiration frequency can be accurately derived from the heart period spectrum (i.e., frequency of RSA). The second study demonstrates that respiration frequency is unaffected by atropine dose, a manipulation that systematically mediates the amplitude of RSA, and that the tight linkage between the RSA frequency and respiration frequency is unaffected by atropine. The research shows that the amplitude of RSA is not affected by respiration frequency under either baseline conditions or vagal manipulation via atropine injection. Respiration frequency is therefore unlikely to be a concern under these conditions. Research examining conditions that produce (causal) deviations from the intrinsic relation between respiratory parameters and the amplitude of RSA combined with appropriate statistical procedures for understanding these deviations are necessary.
尽管呼吸性窦性心律不齐（RSA）是一种常用的可量化生理变量，但其量化方法并不一致。本文对呼吸频率需要被操控或监测才能准确测量RSA幅度这一假设提出质疑。本文回顾了近期的论文，这些论文将RSA幅度与使用呼吸参数来调整RSA幅度的测量方法进行了对比。此外，还展示了两项研究的数据，以实证评估RSA幅度与呼吸频率之间的关系以及RSA频率与呼吸频率之间的协变关系。文献综述表明这两类测量方法有相似的结果。第一项研究表明，在无任务要求的自主呼吸过程中，呼吸频率与RSA幅度之间没有关系，并且呼吸频率可以从心动周期频谱（即RSA频率）中准确推导出来。第二项研究表明，呼吸频率不受阿托品剂量的影响，阿托品剂量是一种系统性调节RSA幅度的操作，并且RSA频率与呼吸频率之间的紧密联系不受阿托品的影响。研究表明，在基线条件下或通过注射阿托品进行迷走神经操控时，RSA幅度均不受呼吸频率的影响。因此，在这些条件下呼吸频率不太可能成为一个问题。有必要开展研究，考察那些会导致呼吸参数与RSA幅度之间的内在关系产生（因果）偏差的条件，并结合适当的统计程序来理解这些偏差。
