School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom.
Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 7;9(1):1545. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-38058-5.
Understanding the complex dynamics of cardio-respiratory coupling sheds light on the underlying mechanisms governing the communication between these two physiological systems. Previous research has predominantly considered the coupling at respiratory rates slower than the heart rate and shown that respiratory oscillations lead to modulation and/or synchronization of the heart rate. Whereas the mechanisms of cardio-respiratory communication are still under discussion, peripheral nervous regulation is considered to be the predominant factor. This work offers a novel experimental design and applies the concept of instantaneous phase to detect cardio-respiratory entrainment at elevated respiration rates, close to the resting heart rate. If such 1:1 entrainment exists, it would suggest direct neuronal communication between the respiration and heart centres in the brain. We have observed 1:1 entrainment in all volunteers, with consistently longer synchronization episodes seen in physically fitter people, and demonstrated that cardio-respiratory synchronization at both low and high respiration rates is associated with a common underlying communication mechanism.
理解心肺耦合的复杂动力学可以揭示这两个生理系统之间通讯的潜在机制。先前的研究主要集中在呼吸频率慢于心率的耦合上，并表明呼吸振荡会导致心率的调制和/或同步。虽然心肺通讯的机制仍在讨论中，但外周神经调节被认为是主要因素。这项工作提供了一种新的实验设计，并应用瞬时相位的概念来检测接近静息心率的升高呼吸率下的心-肺同步。如果存在这种 1:1 同步，那么这将表明呼吸和心脏中枢之间存在直接的神经元通讯。我们在所有志愿者中都观察到了 1:1 同步，身体更健康的人观察到的同步时间更长，并且证明了在低呼吸率和高呼吸率下的心-肺同步与共同的潜在通讯机制有关。
