Pm. Lehrer et al., Resonant frequency biofeedback training to increase cardiac variability: Rationale and manual for training, APPL PSY BI, 25(3), 2000, pp. 177-191
Heart rate and blood pressure, as well as other physiological systems, amon
g healthy people, show a complex pattern of variability, characterized by m
ultifrequency oscillations, There is evidence that these oscillations refle
ct the activity of homeostatic reflexes. Biofeedback training to increase t
he amplitude of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) maximally increases the
amplitude of heart rate oscillations only at approximately 0.1 Hz. To perfo
rm this task people slow their breathing to this rare to a point where reso
nance occurs between respiratory-induced oscillations (RSA) and oscillation
s that naturally occur at this rate, probably triggered in part by barorefl
ex activity, we hypothesize that this type of biofeedback exercises the bar
oreflexes, and renders them more efficient. A manual is presented for carry
ing out this method, Supporting data are provided in Lehrer; Smetankin, and
Potapova (2000) in this issue.