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Psychosomatic Medicine 33:301-322 (1971)
© 1971 American Psychosomatic Society

Operant Conditioning of Heart Rate in Patients with Premature Ventricular Contractions

THEODORE WEISS MD1 and BERNARD T. ENGEL PhD2

1 Section of Physiological Psychology, Laboratory of Behavioral Sciences, Gerontology Research Center, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Baltimore City Hospitals; Dr. Weiss is now at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania.
2 Section of Physiological Psychology, Laboratory of Behavioral Sciences, Gerontology Research Center, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Baltimore City Hospitals

T. Engel, PhD, Baltimore City Hospitals, Baltimore, Md 21224

Operant conditioning of heart rate (HR) was carried out in 8 patients with premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). All of the patients showed some degree of HR control. Five of these patients showed a decrease in PVCs in association with the learning of HR control. Four patients have shown persistence of a low PVC frequency after study, the longest followup being 21 months. Pharmacologic studies suggested that decreased PVC frequency was mediated by diminished sympathetic tone in 1 patient and increased vagal tone in another.

These findings suggest that some aspects of cardiac ventricular function can be brought under voluntary control. Once such control has been acquired, it can mediate clinically significant changes in cardiac function.

Submitted on August 6, 1970
Revised on November 23, 1970




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