Sympathetic rhythms and cardiovascular oscillations

Spectral analysis of heart rate and arterial pressure variabilities is a po werful noninvasive tool, which is increasingly used to infer alterations of cardiovascular autonomic regulation in a variety of physiological and path ophysiological conditions, such as hypertension, myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure. A most important methodological issue to properly interpret the results obtained by the spectral analysis of cardiovascular variability signals is represented by the attribution of neurophysiological correlates to these spectral components. In this regard, recent applicatio ns of spectral techniques to the evaluation of the oscillatory properties o f sympathetic efferent activity in animals, as well as in humans, offer a n ew approach to a better understanding of the relationship between cardiovas cular oscillations and autonomic regulation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.