Rhythmical changes of the cutaneous blood flow in the forehead region under the condition of hypnoid relaxation.

Background: A characteristic and stable blood flow rhythm can be detected for the skin of the forehead and ear lobes with frequencies of approx. 0.15 Hz (9/min), which were primarily not related to the respiratory rhythm.

Patients And Methods: The perfusion of the skin in the forehead region was investigated non-invasively with laser Doppler fluxmetry in ten healthy subjects before and during Hypnoid Relaxation (HyR). The HyR-state was induced by suggesting formulas regarding to the well known Autgeneous Training.

Results: In all test subjects rhythmical fluctuations of bloodflow with a frequency of approx. 0.15 Hz could be observed both, before and during HyR. We found that the amplitude of these fluctuations clearly (> 20% from individual baseline) increased in five of ten test subjects under the condition of HyR. Furthermore, in three of ten cases the spontaneous respiration under HyR adjusted to the frequency of the described bloodflow rhythm, which exists both, before and during HyR.

Conclusions: These phenomena suggest an individually stabil and autonomous rhythm which is effected by alterations in the level of conciousness and which may be caused by the close linkage between the nerval structures for control of respiratory and circulatory systems. May be, this autonomic rhythm could be used as a trigger for breathing therapies or as a parameter for the impact of relaxation techniques on hemodynamics, e.g. in complementary therapy of vascular diseases like systemic sclerosis.