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Crossover assessment of cardiolocomotor synchronization during running
Lucenildo Silva Cerqueira1, Aluizio D'Affonsêca Netto1, Roger Gomes Tavares Mello1,2
1Programa de Engenharia Biomédica, COPPE/UFRJ, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, P.O. Box 68510, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-972, RJ, Brazil.
Insights
Cardiolocomotor coordination (CLC) measures may not be reliable. Current tools can indicate coordination even when heart rate and step frequency data are from different individuals, suggesting a need for improved methods.
Area of Science:
- Exercise Physiology
- Biomechanical Analysis
- Human Movement Science
Background:
- Cardiolocomotor coordination (CLC) describes the relationship between heart rate (HR) and step frequency (StepF) during locomotion.
- Assessing CLC is crucial for understanding physiological entrainment during physical activity.
- Existing methods for measuring CLC may require re-evaluation for accuracy and specificity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the hypothesis that positive cardiolocomotor coordination (CLC) measures can occur by chance.
- To investigate if heart rate (HR) approximating step frequency (StepF) during running leads to spurious CLC findings.
- To evaluate the validity of current CLC measurement tools.
Main Methods:
- Continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) and electromyogram (EMG) recordings were obtained from ten healthy men running at 152 step/min.
- Cardiolocomotor coordination (CLC) was assessed using phase synchrograms and the index of conditional probability (iCP).
- Results were validated using surrogate data and a crossover approach, comparing HR and StepF between different subjects.
Main Results:
- Six subjects exhibited synchrogram structures and high iCP values (≥0.8), indicating potential physiological entrainment.
- Crossover analysis showed similar phase synchrogram and iCP behaviors when HR and StepF values were numerically close between subjects.
- Significant iCP values were found in 51% of comparisons, including instances where data originated from different individuals.
Conclusions:
- Current tools for measuring CLC, such as synchrograms and iCP, may not be sufficiently specific.
- These methods can indicate CLC occurrence even when data are not physiologically linked (e.g., from different individuals or times).
- The findings suggest that existing CLC measurement tools may overestimate the prevalence of physiological entrainment during running.
Purpose:
This study aimed at testing the hypothesis that positive cardiolocomotor coordination (CLC) measure occurs by chance during a running task where the heart rate (HR) is approximated to the step frequency (StepF).
Methods:
The electrocardiogram and electromyogram from the right gastrocnemius lateralis muscle were continuously recorded from ten healthy young men running at a paced rhythm of 152 step/min, to monitor HR and StepF. CLC was evaluated by phase synchrograms and the index of conditional probability (iCP). Results were validated with surrogate data and a crossover approach, where the HR of one subject was related to the StepF of another one, and comparisons were made combining subjects two by two.
Results:
Six subjects showed synchrogram structures and high iCP values (≥0.8), suggesting the occurrence of physiological entrainment, when the HR reached the SF range. In crossover analysis, phase synchrograms and iCP presented similar behavior of original data when the HR from one subject was close enough to the SF from another one. Significant iCP values in 46 of 90 comparisons (51%) were observed, including all cases crossing signals among the six positive cases.
Conclusion:
Synchrogram and iCP tools currently employed for measuring CLC are not appropriate because they indicate the occurrence of this phenomenon even among subjects who ran on different days and times of each other.
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