Live Longer with a Dead Language

[Guest guest]

Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 287: H579-H587, 2004.

First published April 8, 2004; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.

 

Oscillations of heart rate and respiration synchronize

during poetry recitation

Dirk Cysarz,1,2 Dietrich von Bonin,3 Helmut Lackner,4

Peter Heusser,3 Maximilian Moser,4,5 and Henrik

Bettermann1

 

The objective of this study was to investigate the

synchronization between low-frequency breathing

patterns and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) of

heart rate during guided recitation of poetry, i.e.,

recitation of hexameter verse from ancient Greek

literature performed in a therapeutic setting.

 

Twenty

healthy volunteers performed three different types of

exercises with respect to a cross-sectional

comparison: 1) recitation of hexameter verse, 2)

controlled breathing, and 3) spontaneous breathing.

Each exercise was divided into three successive

measurements: a 15-min baseline measurement (S1), 20

min of exercise, and a 15-min effect measurement (S2).

 

Breathing patterns and RSA were derived from

respiratory traces and electrocardiograms,

respectively, which were recorded simultaneously using

an ambulatory device. The synchronization was then

quantified by the index , which has been adopted from

the analysis of weakly coupled chaotic oscillators.

 

During recitation of hexameter verse, was high,

indicating prominent cardiorespiratory

synchronization.

The controlled breathing exercise

showed cardiorespiratory synchronization to a lesser

extent and all resting periods (S1 and S2) had even

fewer cardiorespiratory synchronization.

During

spontaneous breathing, cardiorespiratory

synchronization was minimal and hardly observable.

 

The

results were largely determined by the extent of a

low-frequency component in the breathing oscillations

that emerged from the design of hexameter recitation.

 

In conclusion, recitation of hexameter verse exerts a

strong influence on RSA by a prominent low-frequency

component in the breathing pattern, generating a

strong cardiorespiratory synchronization.

 

2004 by the American Physiological Society