No abstract

The study demonstrated that the method of cardiorespiratory synchronization provides valuable information on the nature of arrhythmia and helps to evaluate the regulatory adaptive potentialities of a child. The width of synchronization range and the latency of synchronization at the lower boundary are the indicators of regulatory adaptive potentialities.

The proposed method of quantitative estimation of regulatory and adaptive status (RAS) of human organism is based on complex responses of two major vegetative functions - breath and heart rates under organism exposure to a number of factors and diseases. It has been evidenced that during the follicular menstruation stage and during optimum readiness of female organism for childbirth RAS increases, however, stress impact can also cause RAS set off to decrease. Likewise, the possibility of quantitative organism stress resistance estimation is also presented. Under some pathological conditions (myocardial infarction, hypo-and hyperthyroidism, diabetes type 2), RAS goes down, and the degree of its restoration depends on the attained therapy effect. It is shown that RAS dynamics provides an innovative methodological approach to medication efficiency estimation based on its influence not only on the body organ or target function, but also on adaptive abilities of the organism.

We propose that along with the intracardiac pacemaker, a generator of cardiac rhythm exists in the central nervous system--in the efferent structures of the cardiovascular center of the medullar oblongata. Signals in the medulla oblongata arise as a result of the hierarchic interaction of the brain structures. Neural signals originating there in the form of bursts of impulses conduct to the heart along the vagus nerves and after interaction with cardiac pacemaker structures, cause generation of the cardiac pulse in exact accordance with the frequency of "neural bursts". The intrinsic cardiac rhythm generator (the sinus node) is a life-sustaining factor that maintains the heart pumping function when the central nervous system is in a stage of deep inhibition, (e.g., under anesthesia or during unconsciousness). The brain generator is the factor that provides heart adaptive reactions in behaving organism. The integration of the two levels of rhythmogenesis in the brain and heart provides reliability and functional perfection of the cardiac rhythm generation system in the whole organism.

This study describes methods of volitional management of heart rhythms and proves that it is possible by means of management of its operations, subject to arbitrary control, which also has a strong functional connection to the center of the heart rhythm formation in the brain. Experiments demonstrate that it is possible for arbitrary changes in the heart rhythm to be made through conscious control of the breathing rhythm, and even a short-term cardiac arrest by means of contracting abdominal muscles. We postulate that the management of human heart rhythm is indirectly regulated through arbitrary controlled operations. The present article describes and analyzes ways that enable a human to consciously and purposefully manage the frequency of heart contractions. Common principles of arbitrary management of the heart rhythm in humans are uncovered through analysis.