Sakakibara M, Hayano J
Division of Clinical Psychology, Tokai Central Hospital, Japan.
Psychosom Med. 1996 Jan-Feb;58(1):32-7. doi: 10.1097/00006842-199601000-00006.
The present study was designed to examine the effect of voluntarily slowed respiration on the cardiac parasympathetic response to a threat: the anticipation of an electric shock. Thirty healthy college students were randomly assigned to the slow, fast, and nonpaced breathing groups (10 subjects each). Subjects in the slow and fast paced breathing groups regulated their breathing rate to 8 and 30 cpm, respectively, and those in the nonpaced breathing group breathed spontaneously. Immediately after the period of paced or nonpaced breathing for 5 minutes, the subjects were exposed for 2 minutes to the anticipation of an electric shock during breathing paced at 15 cpm. The amplitude of the high frequency (HF) component of the heart rate variability, an index of cardiac parasympathetic tone, significantly decreased during the threat in the fast and nonpaced breathing groups, whereas it was unchanged in the slow paced breathing group. No significant difference was observed among the three groups in the amplitude of respiration during the threat. Results suggest that a slowed respiration decreases the cardiac parasympathetic withdrawal response to the threat. This study provides a rationale for the therapeutic uses of the slowed respiration maneuver in attenuating the cardiac autonomic responses in patients with anxiety disorder.
本研究旨在探讨自主减慢呼吸对心脏副交感神经对威胁（即预期电击）反应的影响。30名健康大学生被随机分为慢呼吸组、快呼吸组和无节奏呼吸组（每组10名受试者）。慢呼吸组和快呼吸组的受试者分别将呼吸频率调节至每分钟8次和30次，无节奏呼吸组的受试者则自主呼吸。在进行5分钟的有节奏或无节奏呼吸后，受试者立即在每分钟15次的呼吸节奏下，经历2分钟的预期电击。心率变异性的高频（HF）成分的幅度是心脏副交感神经张力的一个指标，在快呼吸组和无节奏呼吸组中，该指标在威胁期间显著降低，而在慢呼吸组中则保持不变。在威胁期间，三组的呼吸幅度没有显著差异。结果表明，减慢呼吸可降低心脏副交感神经对威胁的撤离反应。本研究为减慢呼吸策略在减轻焦虑症患者心脏自主神经反应方面的治疗应用提供了理论依据。
