Effect of heart-rate control training on heart-rate discrimination

Heart rate discrimination and heart rate control: A test of Brener's theory

Three experiments were conducted to examine predictions from Brener's theory regarding the relationship between autonomic discrimination and autonomic control. Experiment 1 examined the possibility that training subjects to discriminate their heart rates would enhance their skill at controlling that response. Twenty subjects participated in two sessions during which one group of 10 subjects received training (knowledge of results) on the Ashton discrimination technique. The second group performed the discrimination task but received no training. All subjects then took part in a third session of heart rate (HR) control (both increase and decrease) where half of each of the aforementioned groups received feedback during the control task, while the other half performed the HR control task without feedback. Results indicated that for the control of both HR increases and decreases, there was no significant difference between those subjects trained to discriminate their HR, and those who had received no training to discriminate HR. The second experiment investigated the hypothesis that training subjects with feedback to control their HR would enhance their capacity to discriminate their heart activity. Ten subjects participated in two sessions of HR control during which half the subjects received feedback training to increase HR. During a third session, all subjects underwent a test of discrimination ability using the Ashton technique, and no knowledge of results regarding performance was provided. Results confirmed the hypothesis. The final experiment in the series investigated the discrimination/control relationship within a problem-solving framework and used 20 subjects. Results confirmed the hypothesis that subjects forewarned at the time of discrimination training that a heart rate control task was to follow would perform better than 10 subjects receiving no forewarning of the task objective. This effect took place independently of cardiac discrimination ability. A second finding from this experiment was that subjects trained to discriminate heart rate were better able to increase heart rate than untrained subjects. This result contradicts that of Experiment 1, and reasons for this anomaly are discussed in detail.

Voluntary control of autonomic responses: a case for a dialogue between individual and group experimental methodologies

This paper discusses the general methodological controversy between individual and group research approaches by comparing the main characteristics of these two methods as applied to the specific context of basic research on voluntary heart rate control. A review of the literature published over the past 19 years in this area of study shows an imbalance in the frequency of utilization of these two methods that strongly favors shortterm group designs. Implications of this research tendency are discussed. The relevance and the advantages of applying the individual approach to voluntary autonomic control research are outlined. This area is particularly amenable to the individual approach because the phenomena under study seem to be characterized by, among other things, a smaller intrasubject than intersubject variability. It is suggested that the present imbalanced tendency in the choice of a research method be corrected and that researchers adopt a more flexible attitude in the choice of the best method for studying each specific problem.