Heart rate variability (HRV) is considered a reliable reflection of the many physiological factors modulating the normal rhythm of the heart. It reflects autonomic nervous system (ANS) function, and as such, it is used in numerous fields of medicine. Written by experts in the field, this book provides a comprehensive overview of HRV. The first section is dedicated to technical themes related to monitoring and the variables recorded. The second section highlights use of HRV in hypothermia. Finally, the third section covers general aspects of HRV application.

This book presents the concepts underlying the measurement of parasympathetic and sympathetic (P&S) activity in the autonomic nervous system and the application of these measurements in the development of therapeutic guidelines for treating dysfunctions in these processes. It provides an overview of the anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry of the autonomic nervous system; details general clinical applications of P&S monitoring that are independent of specialty or disease; presents the pathophysiology of P&S dysfunction in specific disorders, expected test results, therapeutic options, and expected outcomes; and includes case studies and longitudinal studies that demonstrate the major concepts for the common diseases for which P&S monitoring is recommended. Clinical Autonomic Dysfunction enables clinicians to improve patient outcomes by identifying and treating clinical problems related to autonomic nervous system disorders.

This monograph reports on advances in the measurement and study of autonomic nervous system (ANS) dynamics as a source of reliable and effective markers for mood state recognition and assessment of emotional responses. Its primary impact will be in affective computing and the application of emotion-recognition systems. Applicative studies of biosignals such as: electrocardiograms; electrodermal responses; respiration activity; gaze points; and pupil-size variation are covered in detail, and experimental results explain how to characterize the elicited affective levels and mood states pragmatically and accurately using the information thus extracted from the ANS. Nonlinear signal processing techniques play a crucial role in understanding the ANS physiology underlying superficially noticeable changes and provide important quantifiers of cardiovascular control dynamics. These have prognostic value in both healthy subjects and patients with mood disorders. Moreover, Autonomic Nervous System Dynamics for Mood and Emotional-State Recognition proposes a novel probabilistic approach based on the point-process theory in order to model and characterize the instantaneous ANS nonlinear dynamics providing a foundation from which machine “understanding” of emotional response can be enhanced. Using mathematics and signal processing, this work also contributes to pragmatic issues such as emotional and mood-state modeling, elicitation, and non-invasive ANS monitoring. Throughout the text a critical review on the current state-of-the-art is reported, leading to the description of dedicated experimental protocols, novel and reliable mood models, and novel wearable systems able to perform ANS monitoring in a naturalistic environment. Biomedical engineers will find this book of interest, especially those concerned with nonlinear analysis, as will researchers and industrial technicians developing wearable systems and sensors for ANS monitoring.

Unique case-based guide to generating diagnostic possibilities based on the patients' symptoms. Invaluable for psychiatrists and neurologists.