Power spectrum analysis of heart rate fluctuation: a quantitative probe of beat-to-beat cardiovascular control

✍ Scribed by Akselrod, Solange (author);Gordon, David (author);Ubel, F. Andrew (author);Shannon, Daniel C. (author);Barger, A. Clifford (author);Cohen, Richard J. (author)

• Book ID: 126946580
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Year: 1981
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 762 KB
• Volume: 213
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0036-8075
• DOI: 10.1126/science.6166045

✦ Synopsis

Power spectrum analysis of heart rate fluctuations provides a quantitative noninvasive means of assessing the functioning of the short-term cardiovascular control systems. We show that sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous activity make frequency-specific contributions to the heart rate power spectrum, and that renin-angiotensin system activity strongly modulates the amplitude of the spectral peak located at 0.04 hertz. Our data therefore provide evidence that the renin-angiotensin system plays a significant role in short-term cardiovascular control in the time scale of seconds to minutes.