Bioengineering and Robotics Research Center E. Piaggio and Department of Information Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa 56122, Italy.
Bioengineering and Robotics Research Center E. Piaggio and Department of Information Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa 56122, Italy.
Neuroimage. 2022 May 1;251:119023. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119023. Epub 2022 Feb 23.
The study of functional Brain-Heart Interplay (BHI) from non-invasive recordings has gained much interest in recent years. Previous endeavors aimed at understanding how the two dynamical systems exchange information, providing novel holistic biomarkers and important insights on essential cognitive aspects and neural system functioning. However, the interplay between cardiac sympathovagal and cortical oscillations still has much room for further investigation. In this study, we introduce a new computational framework for a functional BHI assessment, namely the Sympatho-Vagal Synthetic Data Generation Model, combining cortical (electroencephalography, EEG) and peripheral (cardiac sympathovagal) neural dynamics. The causal, bidirectional neural control on heartbeat dynamics was quantified on data gathered from 26 human volunteers undergoing a cold-pressor test. Results show that thermal stress induces heart-to-brain functional interplay sustained by EEG oscillations in the delta and gamma bands, primarily originating from sympathetic activity, whereas brain-to-heart interplay originates over central brain regions through sympathovagal control. The proposed methodology provides a viable computational tool for the functional assessment of the causal interplay between cortical and cardiac neural control.
近年来，从非侵入性记录中研究功能性大脑-心脏相互作用（BHI）引起了广泛关注。先前的研究旨在了解这两个动力系统如何交换信息，提供新的整体生物标志物，并深入了解重要的认知方面和神经系统功能。然而，心脏交感神经和皮质振荡之间的相互作用仍有很大的研究空间。在这项研究中，我们引入了一种新的计算框架，用于评估功能性 BHI，即交感神经-迷走神经综合数据生成模型，它结合了皮质（脑电图，EEG）和外周（心脏交感神经）神经动力学。通过对 26 名志愿者进行冷加压试验时收集的数据，对心跳动力学的因果、双向神经控制进行了量化。结果表明，热应激通过 delta 和 gamma 波段的 EEG 振荡诱导心脏到大脑的功能相互作用，主要源于交感神经活动，而大脑到心脏的相互作用则通过交感神经控制起源于中枢脑区。所提出的方法为皮质和心脏神经控制之间因果相互作用的功能评估提供了一种可行的计算工具。
