Department of Performance Psychology, Institute of Psychology, German Sport University Cologne, Germany; EA 4260, UFR STAPS, Normandie Université Caen, France.
Department of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2022 Jul;138:104711. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104711. Epub 2022 May 24.
Voluntary slow breathing (VSB) is used as a prevention technique to support physical and mental health, given it is suggested to influence the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). However, to date, no comprehensive quantitative review exists to support or refute this claim. We address this through a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of VSB on heart rate variability (HRV). Specifically, we focus on HRV parameters indexing PNS activity regulating cardiac functioning, referred to as vagally-mediated (vm)HRV: (1) during the breathing session (i.e., DURING), (2) immediately after one training session (i.e., IM-AFTER1), as well as (3) after a multi-session intervention (i.e., AFTER-INT). From the 1842 selected abstracts, 223 studies were suitable for inclusion (172 DURING, 16 IM-AFTER1, and 49 AFTER-INT). Results indicate increases in vmHRV with VSB, DURING, IM-AFTER1, and AFTER-INT. Given the involvement of the PNS in a large range of health-related outcomes and conditions, VSB exercises could be advised as a low-tech and low-cost technique to use in prevention and adjunct treatment purposes, with few adverse effects expected.
自愿性缓慢呼吸（VSB）被用作一种预防技术，以支持身心健康，因为它被认为可以影响副交感神经系统（PNS）。然而，迄今为止，尚无综合的定量综述来支持或反驳这一说法。我们通过对 VSB 对心率变异性（HRV）影响的系统评价和荟萃分析来解决这个问题。具体来说，我们专注于 HRV 参数，这些参数可以反映调节心脏功能的 PNS 活动，被称为迷走神经介导的（vm）HRV：（1）在呼吸过程中（即，DURING），（2）在一次训练课程后立即（即，IM-AFTER1），以及（3）在多次干预后（即，AFTER-INT）。从 1842 篇摘要中，有 223 项研究适合纳入（172 项 DURING，16 项 IM-AFTER1，49 项 AFTER-INT）。结果表明，VSB 会增加 vmHRV，无论是在 DURING、IM-AFTER1 还是 AFTER-INT 期间。鉴于 PNS 参与了广泛的与健康相关的结果和状况，VSB 运动可以被建议作为一种低技术和低成本的技术，用于预防和辅助治疗目的，预计副作用很少。
