Key result
Heart rate variability and respiratory sinus arrhythmia research provide the empirical foundation for Polyvagal Theory.
Why the study?
The paper was written to track the historical development of heart rate variability research across seven decades and integrate this scientific inquiry into the Polyvagal Theory.
Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Design
Personal narrative review
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
This paper provides a historical and personal narrative detailing the evolution of heart rate variability research, its physiological mechanisms, and the development of the Polyvagal Theory.
Heart rate variabfility (HRV) has been a focal point throughout my academic history. To put into perspective, I have published studies spanning seven decades focusing on HRV (1969-2022). My interest in HRV started early in graduate school and continues to be an important portal informing my theoretical perspective. The current paper tracks some of this history, which started as an empirical observation and moved through several scientific stages including development of quantitative methods and investigations of neural mechanisms. Along this journey a variety of hypotheses were tested including the relative sensitivity of HRV metrics to neural mechanisms, psychological processes, and medical diagnoses. In addition, the research led to the identification of portal of intervention that have become strategies to optimize mental and physical health. These apparent disparate programs of inquiry have been tightly merged as the Polyvagal Theory evolved. In the sections below, I have shared my personal journey through these stages of scientific inquiry and my attempts to integrate the new knowledge in an expansive theoretical model.
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Stephen W. Porges (2022) reported a review. Heart rate variability research and the quantification of respiratory sinus arrhythmia provided the empirical foundation for the development of the Polyvagal Theory over the past five decades.
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