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Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Measuring Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) Activity in Toddlers - Resting and Developmental Challenges
Published on: February 25, 2016
Nonlinear dynamical analysis of the interdependence between central and autonomic nervous systems in neonates during
1Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering group, Department of Basic Physics, University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. eperdepa@ull.es
Abstract:
We present in this paper the results of a study of the interdependence between signal characteristic of the central nervous system (electroencephalography) and the autonomic nervous system (heart rate and respiration) in human neonates during sleep. By using methods from nonlinear dynamical systems theory, we show that there exist significant differences in this interdependence with the sleep stage and the electrodes considered. This paves the way for the application of this methodology in clinical practice to study pathologies where this interdependence is altered, such as the sudden infant death syndrome.
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