Phase Transition in a Healthy Human Heart Rate

A healthy human heart rate displays complex fluctuations which share characteristics of physical systems in a critical state. We demonstrate that the human heart rate in healthy individuals undergoes a dramatic breakdown of criticality characteristics, reminiscent of continuous second order phase transitions. By studying the germane determinants, we show that the hallmark of criticality--highly correlated fluctuations--is observed only during usual daily activity, and a breakdown of these characteristics occurs in prolonged, strenuous exercise and sleep. This finding is the first reported discovery of the dynamical phase transition phenomenon in a biological control system and will be a key to understanding the heart rate control system in health and disease.