Heart rate variability biofeedback: how and why does it work?

Front Psychol

California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant University San Diego, CA, USA.

Published: August 2014

In recent years there has been substantial support for heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) as a treatment for a variety of disorders and for performance enhancement (Gevirtz, 2013). Since conditions as widely varied as asthma and depression seem to respond to this form of cardiorespiratory feedback training, the issue of possible mechanisms becomes more salient. The most supported possible mechanism is the strengthening of homeostasis in the baroreceptor (Vaschillo et al., 2002; Lehrer et al., 2003). Recently, the effect on the vagal afferent pathway to the frontal cortical areas has been proposed. In this article, we review these and other possible mechanisms that might explain the positive effects of HRVB.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4104929PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00756DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

heart rate
8
rate variability
8
variability biofeedback
8
biofeedback work?
4
work? years
4
years substantial
4
substantial support
4
support heart
4
biofeedback hrvb
4
hrvb treatment
4

Similar Publications

Background: Nephrology has seen an uptake in transition to remote care delivery. The impact of telenephrology care on chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression is not well defined.

Methods: We analyzed data from patients naturally selected for telenephrology versus standard, in-person visits.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Increasing life expectancy has led to a rise in nursing home admissions, a context in which older adults often experience chronic physical and mental health conditions, chronic pain, and reduced well-being. Nonpharmacological approaches are especially important for managing older adults' chronic pain, mental health conditions (such as anxiety and depression), and overall well-being, including sensory stimulation (SS) and therapist support (TS). However, the combined effects of SS and TS have not been investigated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Advanced Markers for Hemodynamic Monitoring in Cardiogenic Shock and End-Stage Heart Failure: A Mini Review.

Heart Fail Rev

January 2025

Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Utah Health & School of Medicine, 30 N Mario Capecchi Drive, HELIX Building 3rd Floor, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.

Right heart catheterization (RHC) provides critical hemodynamic insights by measuring atrial, ventricular, and pulmonary artery pressures, as well as cardiac output (CO). Although the use of RHC has decreased, its application has been linked to improved outcomes. Advanced hemodynamic markers such as cardiac power output (CPO), aortic pulsatility index (API), pulmonary artery pulsatility index (PAPi), right atrial pressure to pulmonary capillary wedge pressure ratio (RAP/PCWP) and right ventricular stroke work index (RVSWI) have been introduced to enhance risk stratification in cardiogenic shock (CS) and end-stage heart failure (HF) patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Arterial compliance (AC) is an important cardiovascular parameter characterizing mechanical properties of arteries. AC is significantly influenced by arterial wall structure and vasomotion, and it markedly influences cardiac load. A new method, based on a two-element Windkessel model, has been recently proposed for estimating AC as the ratio of the time constant T of the diastolic blood pressure decay and peripheral vascular resistance derived from clinically available stroke volume measurements and selected peripheral blood pressure parameters which are less prone to peripheral distortions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Effects of renal denervation on the course of cardiorenal syndrome: insight from studies with fawn-hooded hypertensive rats.

Physiol Res

December 2024

Department of Pathophysiology, The Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, Center for Experimental Medicine, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic.

Combination of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and heart failure (HF) results in extremely high morbidity and mortality. The current guideline-directed medical therapy is rarely effective and new therapeutic approaches are urgently needed. The study was designed to examine if renal denervation (RDN) will exhibit long-standing beneficial effects on the HF- and CKD-related morbidity and mortality.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!