Why the study?
Does augmented sensory feedback enable subjects to voluntarily raise or lower their heart rate?
Does augmented sensory feedback enable subjects to voluntarily raise or lower their heart rate?
Augmented sensory feedback allows for voluntary increases in heart rate, but not decreases, and sustained elevation may induce anxiety.
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Sustained heart rate increases via feedback may induce anxiety; hypothesis-generating for voluntary autonomic control in larger cohorts.
In the first of two studies, subjects ( S s) were required to either raise or lower heart rate (HR) relative to pre‐trial baseline by altering a tone which changed frequency with HR. Reliable increases but no decreases in HR were found. In a second study extended training of a single S with visual feedback resulted in consistent sustained HR increases of 15 to 35 beats per minute (bpm), but only slight decreases. Sustained elevated rate was accompanied by anxiety. No reliable changes in breathing occurred in either study.
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Headrick et al. (1971) studied this question.
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