Oscillations serve a critical role in organizing biological systems. In the brain, oscillatory coupling is a fundamental mechanism of communication. The possibility that neural oscillations interact directly with slower physiological rhythms (e.g., heart rate, respiration) is largely unexplored and may have important implications for psychological functioning. Oscillations in heart rate, an aspect of heart rate variability (HRV), show remarkably robust associations with psychological health. Mather and Thayer proposed coupling between high-frequency HRV (HF-HRV) and neural oscillations as a mechanism that partially accounts for such relationships. We tested this hypothesis by measuring phase-amplitude coupling between HF-HRV and neural oscillations in 37 healthy adults at rest. Robust coupling was detected in all frequency bands. Granger causality analyses indicated stronger heart-to-brain than brain-to-heart effects in all frequency bands except gamma. These findings suggest that cardiac rhythms play a causal role in modulating neural oscillations, which may have important implications for mental health.

中文翻译：

---

神经节律和心律之间的振荡耦合

振荡在组织生物系统中发挥着关键作用。在大脑中，振荡耦合是沟通的基本机制。神经振荡与较慢的生理节律（例如心率、呼吸）直接相互作用的可能性在很大程度上尚未被探索，并且可能对心理功能产生重要影响。心率波动是心率变异性 (HRV) 的一个方面，与心理健康有着非常密切的关联。 Mather 和 Thayer 提出高频 HRV (HF-HRV) 和神经振荡之间的耦合作为部分解释这种关系的机制。我们通过测量 37 名健康成年人休息时的 HF-HRV 和神经振荡之间的相位振幅耦合来检验这一假设。在所有频段均检测到鲁棒耦合。格兰杰因果关系分析表明，在除伽马之外的所有频段中，心对脑效应都强于脑对心效应。这些发现表明，心律在调节神经振荡中起着因果作用，这可能对心理健康产生重要影响。