2003/11/10 by Mark McGuinness, Young Mi Hong, D. C. Galletly +1 · 1 citation
Computer Science · Neuroscience · Physics and Astronomy · Medicine · Mathematics · #Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation #Neural dynamics and brain function #stochastic dynamics and bifurcation #Vagal tone #Synchronizing #Cardiorespiratory fitness #Respiration #Synchronization (alternating current) #Heart rate #Cardiology #Medicine #Internal medicine #Physics #Mathematics #Anatomy #Blood pressure #Heart rate variability #Topology (electrical circuits) #Combinatorics
paper · doi:10.1063/1.1620990
openalex publication_date 2003/11/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
Arnold tongues are phase-locking regions in parameter space, originally studied in circle-map models of cardiac arrhythmias. They show where a periodic system responds by synchronizing to an external stimulus. Clinical studies of resting or anesthetized patients exhibit synchronization between heart-beats and respiration. Here we show that these results are successfully modeled by a circle-map, neatly combining the phenomena of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA, where inspiration modulates heart-rate) and cardioventilatory coupling (CVC, where the heart is a pacemaker for respiration). Examination of the Arnold tongues reveals that while RSA can cause synchronization, the strongest mechanism for synchronization is CVC, so that the heart is acting as a pacemaker for respiration.