Heart rate variability biofeedback: how and why does it work?

In recent years there has been substantial support for heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) as a treatment for a variety of disorders and for performance enhancement (Gevirtz, 2013). Since conditions as widely varied as asthma and depression seem to respond to this form of cardiorespiratory fee...

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Published inFrontiers in psychology Vol. 5; p. 756
Main Authors Lehrer, Paul M, Gevirtz, Richard
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 21.07.2014
Subjects
Baroreflex
biofeedback
Heart rate variability
Homeostasis
Psychology
resonance
biofeedback
homeostasis
baroreflex
resonance
heart rate variability
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Summary:In recent years there has been substantial support for heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) as a treatment for a variety of disorders and for performance enhancement (Gevirtz, 2013). Since conditions as widely varied as asthma and depression seem to respond to this form of cardiorespiratory feedback training, the issue of possible mechanisms becomes more salient. The most supported possible mechanism is the strengthening of homeostasis in the baroreceptor (Vaschillo et al., 2002; Lehrer et al., 2003). Recently, the effect on the vagal afferent pathway to the frontal cortical areas has been proposed. In this article, we review these and other possible mechanisms that might explain the positive effects of HRVB.
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Reviewed by: Robert P. Nolan, University Health Network – University of Toronto, Canada; Robert Lake Conder, Carolina Neuropsychological Service, Inc., USA
This article was submitted to Psychology for Clinical Settings, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology.
Edited by: J. P. Ginsberg, Dorn VA Medical Center, USA
ISSN:1664-1078
1664-1078
DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00756