Changes in Heart Rate during Feedback Control of Respiration

Abstract

Subjects received one of eight treatments: (1) practice at increasing heart rate with heart-rate feedback, (2) practice at decreasing heart rate with heart-rate feedback, (3) practice at increasing heart rate without heart-rate feedback, (4) practice at decreasing heart rate without heart-rate feedback, (5) practice at increasing respiration rate with respiratory feedback, (6) practice at decreasing respiration rate with respiratory feedback, (7) practice at increasing respiration rate with respiratory instructions only, (8) practice at decreasing respiration rate with respiratory instructions only. Heart rate, Respiration rate, and Respiration depth were measured. Analysis indicated that (a) subjects who controlled respiration with respiratory feedback reliably increased and decreased heart rate; (b) subjects who controlled respiration with respiratory instructions only reliably increased but not decreased heart rate; (c) subjects in the respiratory-feedback conditions showed higher heart-rate increase and decrease than heart-rate increase and decrease of subjects in the other six conditions.