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Scale exponents of blood pressure and heart rate during autonomic blockade as assessed by detrended fluctuation analysis
Author(s) -
Castiglioni Paolo,
Parati Gianfranco,
Di Rienzo Marco,
Carabalona Roberta,
Cividjian Andrei,
Quintin Luc
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the journal of physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.802
H-Index - 240
eISSN - 1469-7793
pISSN - 0022-3751
DOI - 10.1113/jphysiol.2010.196428
Subject(s) - heart rate , propranolol , atropine , blood pressure , detrended fluctuation analysis , clonidine , medicine , cardiology , vagal tone , autonomic nervous system , anesthesia , mathematics , scaling , geometry
Non‐technical summary It is still unknown how the autonomic nervous system influences the fractal dynamics of cardiovascular signals. We show that in supine volunteers vagal and sympathetic outflows contribute differently to the fractal structures of heart rate and blood pressure. The vagal outflow contributes with a ‘white‐noise’ component to the heart rate dynamics, indirectly influencing also the fractal dynamics of blood pressure. The sympathetic outflow contributes with a Brownian motion component to the heart rate dynamics, increasing long‐term fractal coefficients, without affecting long‐term coefficients of blood pressure. Results are explained by the different distribution and dynamics of acetylcholine receptors and of α‐ and β‐adrenergic receptors. Our findings may allow better delineating alterations of cardiovascular fractal dynamics in physiological and pathophysiological settings.