[Analysis of heart rate variability during parallel swinging]

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Physiology
• Autonomic Nervous System Regulation
• Aerospace Medicine

Context:

• Pilots experience unique physiological stresses, including linear acceleration during flight maneuvers.
• Understanding the autonomic nervous system's response is crucial for aviation safety and performance.
• Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis provides insights into autonomic control of the heart.

Purpose:

• To investigate heart rate variability (HRV) characteristics in pilots before, during, and after a parallel swing maneuver.
• To assess the vestibule-vegetative nervous reaction to linear acceleration using HRV.
• To analyze the relationship between HRV spectral components and different stages of the swing test.

Summary:

• Thirty-seven healthy male pilots underwent a parallel swing test with continuous ECG monitoring.
• Autoregressive modeling was used to analyze 15-minute HRV spectra, focusing on the low-frequency (LF) to high-frequency (HF) power ratio (LF/HF).
• Results showed a significantly lower LF/HF ratio during the swing compared to pre- and post-swing periods (P<0.01), indicating increased vagal activity.

Impact:

• Demonstrates a marked increase in vagal nervous activity during parallel swing, suggesting a significant autonomic response to linear acceleration.
• Highlights the complex and versatile nature of cardiac autonomic regulation in pilots across different phases of simulated flight stress.
• Provides a basis for using HRV to evaluate vestibule-vegetative responses in aviators.