title: Correction for sinus arrhythmia in the evoked cardiac response: a timebase problem.
abstract: The detection and description of the evoked cardiac response (ECR) has received much attention in recent literature, with an increasing concentration upon the 'noise' problem of sinus arrhythmia (SA). A departure from extrapolated pre-stimulus activity, obtained by employing procedures of various complexities, has been proposed as an SA-free measure of the ECR. The use of such procedures without consideration of respiratory changes appears questionable. Simulation of HR protocols across a change in respiratory period indicates that spurious ECRs, similar in form to those in the published literature, may be produced by such techniques. A simple method of correcting the problem is outlined.
mesh_terms: D001146:Arrhythmia, Sinus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D011603:Psychophysiology / Q000379:methods*; D012119:Respiration