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Enhancing cardiac parasympathetic nervous activity using a posture respiration ambient biofeedback system: a pilot study

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Abstract

A respiration–posture feedback system was developed to control breathing involuntarily. A small air chamber placed under a subject’s back deflates and inflates to make a subject’s upper body move vertically while lying on a bed. By regulating the deflation/inflation of the air chamber in synchronization with actual respiration, the subject’s respiration was successfully lengthened and deepened. The modulation of the respiration acted as a physiological sedative for the subject as the heart rate variability index suggested that the subject’s parasympathetic nervous system activity was enhanced.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI Grant numbers 15H02767 and 16K12510.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Japan

    Samith S. Herath, Akira Kusumi, Yosuke Note, Etsuhisa Nakamura & Shusaku Nomura

  2. Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan

    Akio Nozawa

Authors
  1. Samith S. Herath
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  2. Akira Kusumi
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  3. Yosuke Note
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  4. Etsuhisa Nakamura
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  5. Akio Nozawa
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  6. Shusaku Nomura
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shusaku Nomura.

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Herath, S.S., Kusumi, A., Note, Y. et al. Enhancing cardiac parasympathetic nervous activity using a posture respiration ambient biofeedback system: a pilot study. Artif Life Robotics 23, 23–27 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-017-0402-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-017-0402-1

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