Why Does Heart Rate Variability Matter for Emotion Regulation

摘要 拥有稳定跳动的心脏并不是最佳选择。大脑发送有关各种身体状态的信号，包括 血压和呼吸有助于加快心跳速度并增加心率 心率变异性（HRV）。由于尚不清楚的原因，静息时 HRV 较高与更好 情绪调节和幸福感。 HRV 较高的人往往较少焦虑、较少抑郁、较少 敌意并产生更适合情境的情绪反应。一种可能的解释是 HRV 与情绪调节之间的关系是同一组大脑区域调节自主神经 状态和情绪，因此 HRV 和情绪调节都反映了总体健康状况和功效 大脑中的中枢自主网络。然而，影响似乎不仅仅来自大脑 到心里。以心率-压力感受器反馈回路的共振频率（大约 6 次呼吸/分钟（冥想练习中经常达到的速度）刺激了身体的共振特征 心血管系统，因此显着增加总 HRV 幅度。最近的研究使用这种方法 研究表明，在每天短暂的训练期间增加心率变异性可以改善长期的情绪结果。但是 目前还不清楚为什么高 HRV 发作会产生积极影响。该项目将是第一个检查 这些影响的大脑机制，检验共振引起高 HRV 发作的假设 频率呼吸会带来积极的结果，因为它们会引起大脑中的动态血流振荡 监测和调节身体生理状态的区域。我们的实验操作将持续 5 周 协议随机分配到以共振频率进行有节奏呼吸的每日会话或一个 两个控制条件。我们测试了共振频率呼吸将增强测量的假设 情绪健康、参与情绪调节的大脑区域之间的静息状态功能连接、 以及情绪体验期间杏仁核的灵活上调和下调。此外，我们测试了 假设这些结果将由定速呼吸期间的血流变化介导，而不是由 替代机制。预期的结果将表明 HRV 不仅仅是一个指标 健康，在刺激中枢自主神经网络的大脑区域以改善他们的能力方面发挥积极作用 协调和功能。

ABSTRACT Having a heart with a steady beat is not optimal. The brain sends signals about various body states including blood pressure and breathing that contribute oscillatory rhythms to the speed of heartbeats and increase heart rate variability (HRV). For reasons that are not yet clear, having greater HRV at rest is associated with better emotion regulation and well-being. People with higher HRV tend to be less anxious, less depressed, less hostile and produce more context-appropriate emotional responses. One potential explanation for the relationship between HRV and emotion regulation is that the same set of brain regions regulates autonomic states and emotions, and so both HRV and emotion regulation reflect the general health and efficacy of this central autonomic network in the brain. However, it appears that the influences do not just flow from the brain to the heart. Paced breathing at the resonance frequency of the heart rate-baroreceptor feedback loop (around 6 breaths/min, a pace often attained during meditative practice) stimulates resonance characteristics of the cardiovascular system and so increases total HRV amplitude dramatically. Recent studies using this approach have shown that increasing HRV during short daily sessions can improve longer-term emotional outcomes. But it is unclear why episodes of high HRV have a positive impact. This project would be the first to examine the brain mechanisms of these effects, testing the hypothesis that episodes of high HRV induced by resonance frequency breathing lead to positive outcomes because they induce dynamic blood flow oscillations in brain regions that monitor and regulate physiological body states. Our experimental manipulation will be a 5-week protocol with random assignment to either a daily session with paced breathing at resonance frequency or one of two control conditions. We test the hypothesis that resonance frequency breathing will enhance measures of emotional well-being, resting state functional connectivity among brain regions involved in emotion regulation, and flexible up- and down-regulation of the amygdala during emotional experience. Furthermore, we test the hypothesis that these outcomes will be mediated by blood flow variability during paced breathing rather than by alternative mechanisms. The expected findings would indicate that HRV is more than just an indicator of health, with an active role in stimulating brain regions in the central autonomic network to improve their coordination and function.