| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
REVIEWS |
From the Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas (T.R.); Department of Psychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany (B.D.).
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Thomas Ritz, PhD, Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, 6424 Hilltop Lane, Dallas, TX 75205. E-mail: tritz{at}smu.edu
Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) or high-frequency heart rate variability has been widely used as a noninvasive measure of cardiac vagal tone. However, their dependency on both respiration rate and tidal volume is largely ignored. Only a minority of studies published in Psychosomatic Medicine in recent years has implemented precautions for controlling respiration rate in RSA measures, and tidal volume effects were only rarely addressed. We discuss methodologic issues related to respiratory control methods and present data that demonstrate that both respiration rate and tidal volume contribute substantially to the within-individual RSA variance under conditions of variable breathing, with tidal volume contributing up to one third beyond respiration rate. Finally, we outline a respiratory control method for the time-domain index of RSA and review research pertaining to its reliability, validity, and experimental application.
Key Words: respiratory sinus arrhythmia heart rate variability respiration vagal tone
Abbreviations: HRV = heart rate variability; pCO2 = partial pressure of carbon dioxide; RSA = respiratory sinus arrhythmia; RR = respiration rate; TTOT = total respiratory cycle time; VT = tidal volume.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
S. M. Schulz, E. Ayala, B. Dahme, and T. Ritz A MATLAB toolbox for correcting within-individual effects of respiration rate and tidal volume on respiratory sinus arrhythmia during variable breathing Behav Res Methods, November 1, 2009; 41(4): 1121 - 1126. [Abstract] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
N. M. Bosch, H. Riese, A. Dietrich, J. Ormel, F. C. Verhulst, and A. J. Oldehinkel Preadolescents' Somatic and Cognitive-Affective Depressive Symptoms Are Differentially Related to Cardiac Autonomic Function and Cortisol: The TRAILS Study Psychosom Med, November 1, 2009; 71(9): 944 - 950. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
C. M. M. Licht, E. J. C. de Geus, F. G. Zitman, W. J. G. Hoogendijk, R. van Dyck, and B. W. J. H. Penninx Association Between Major Depressive Disorder and Heart Rate Variability in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA) Arch Gen Psychiatry, December 1, 2008; 65(12): 1358 - 1367. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
T. Ishizawa, K. Yoshiuchi, Y. Takimoto, Y. Yamamoto, and A. Akabayashi Heart Rate and Blood Pressure Variability and Baroreflex Sensitivity in Patients With Anorexia Nervosa Psychosom Med, July 1, 2008; 70(6): 695 - 700. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
D. Shapiro, I. A. Cook, D. M. Davydov, C. Ottaviani, A. F. Leuchter, and M. Abrams Yoga as a Complementary Treatment of Depression: Effects of Traits and Moods on Treatment Outcome Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., December 1, 2007; 4(4): 493 - 502. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. Blechert, T. Michael, P. Grossman, M. Lajtman, and F. H. Wilhelm Autonomic and Respiratory Characteristics of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Panic Disorder Psychosom Med, November 1, 2007; 69(9): 935 - 943. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |