Complex Brain–Heart Mapping in Mental and Physical Stress
Objective: The central and autonomic nervous systems are deemed complex dynamic systems, wherein each system as a whole shows features that the individual system sub-components do not. They also continuously interact to maintain body homeostasis and appropriate react to endogenous and exogenous stim...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IEEE
2023-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10138406/ |
| _version_ | 1797663074215264256 |
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| author | Vincenzo Catrambone Gaetano Valenza |
| author_facet | Vincenzo Catrambone Gaetano Valenza |
| author_sort | Vincenzo Catrambone |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective: The central and autonomic nervous systems are deemed complex dynamic systems, wherein each system as a whole shows features that the individual system sub-components do not. They also continuously interact to maintain body homeostasis and appropriate react to endogenous and exogenous stimuli. Such interactions are comprehensively referred to functional brain–heart interplay (BHI). Nevertheless, it remains uncertain whether this interaction also exhibits complex characteristics, that is, whether the dynamics of the entire nervous system inherently demonstrate complex behavior, or if such complexity is solely a trait of the central and autonomic systems. Here, we performed complexity mapping of the BHI dynamics under mental and physical stress conditions. Methods and procedures: Electroencephalographic and heart rate variability series were obtained from 56 healthy individuals performing mental arithmetic or cold-pressure tasks, and physiological series were properly combined to derive directional BHI series, whose complexity was quantified through fuzzy entropy. Results: The experimental results showed that BHI complexity is mainly modulated in the efferent functional direction from the brain to the heart, and mainly targets vagal oscillations during mental stress and sympathovagal oscillations during physical stress. Conclusion: We conclude that the complexity of BHI mapping may provide insightful information on the dynamics of both central and autonomic activity, as well as on their continuous interaction. Clinical impact: This research enhances our comprehension of the reciprocal interactions between central and autonomic systems, potentially paving the way for more accurate diagnoses and targeted treatments of cardiovascular, neurological, and psychiatric disorders. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T19:09:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8afe17a84dc84955ac076d804ffd7f29 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2168-2372 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T19:09:16Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-8afe17a84dc84955ac076d804ffd7f292023-10-09T23:00:18ZengIEEEIEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine2168-23722023-01-011149550410.1109/JTEHM.2023.328097410138406Complex Brain–Heart Mapping in Mental and Physical StressVincenzo Catrambone0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9030-7601Gaetano Valenza1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6574-1879Neurocardiovascular Intelligence Laboratory, Bioengineering and Robotics Research Center E. Piaggio, and Department of Information Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, ItalyNeurocardiovascular Intelligence Laboratory, Bioengineering and Robotics Research Center E. Piaggio, and Department of Information Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, ItalyObjective: The central and autonomic nervous systems are deemed complex dynamic systems, wherein each system as a whole shows features that the individual system sub-components do not. They also continuously interact to maintain body homeostasis and appropriate react to endogenous and exogenous stimuli. Such interactions are comprehensively referred to functional brain–heart interplay (BHI). Nevertheless, it remains uncertain whether this interaction also exhibits complex characteristics, that is, whether the dynamics of the entire nervous system inherently demonstrate complex behavior, or if such complexity is solely a trait of the central and autonomic systems. Here, we performed complexity mapping of the BHI dynamics under mental and physical stress conditions. Methods and procedures: Electroencephalographic and heart rate variability series were obtained from 56 healthy individuals performing mental arithmetic or cold-pressure tasks, and physiological series were properly combined to derive directional BHI series, whose complexity was quantified through fuzzy entropy. Results: The experimental results showed that BHI complexity is mainly modulated in the efferent functional direction from the brain to the heart, and mainly targets vagal oscillations during mental stress and sympathovagal oscillations during physical stress. Conclusion: We conclude that the complexity of BHI mapping may provide insightful information on the dynamics of both central and autonomic activity, as well as on their continuous interaction. Clinical impact: This research enhances our comprehension of the reciprocal interactions between central and autonomic systems, potentially paving the way for more accurate diagnoses and targeted treatments of cardiovascular, neurological, and psychiatric disorders.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10138406/Brain-heart interplaycomplexityEEGheart rate variabilityfuzzy entropy |
| spellingShingle | Vincenzo Catrambone Gaetano Valenza Complex Brain–Heart Mapping in Mental and Physical Stress IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine Brain-heart interplay complexity EEG heart rate variability fuzzy entropy |
| title | Complex Brain–Heart Mapping in Mental and Physical Stress |
| title_full | Complex Brain–Heart Mapping in Mental and Physical Stress |
| title_fullStr | Complex Brain–Heart Mapping in Mental and Physical Stress |
| title_full_unstemmed | Complex Brain–Heart Mapping in Mental and Physical Stress |
| title_short | Complex Brain–Heart Mapping in Mental and Physical Stress |
| title_sort | complex brain x2013 heart mapping in mental and physical stress |
| topic | Brain-heart interplay complexity EEG heart rate variability fuzzy entropy |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10138406/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vincenzocatrambone complexbrainx2013heartmappinginmentalandphysicalstress AT gaetanovalenza complexbrainx2013heartmappinginmentalandphysicalstress |