Long-range anticorrelations and non-Gaussian behavior of the heartbeat.
We find that the successive increments in the cardiac beat-to-beat intervals of healthy subjects display scale-invariant, long-range anticorrelations (up to 10(4) heart beats).  Furthermore, we find that the histogram for the heartbeat intervals increments is well described by a Lévy stable distribution.  For a group of subjects with severe heart disease, we find that the distribution is unchanged, but the long-range correlations vanish.  Therefore, the different scaling behavior in health and disease must relate to the underlying dynamics of the heartbeat.
Peng C-K
Center for Polymer Studies and Department of Physics, Boston University, Massachusetts 02215.
Mietus
J
J
Hausdorff
J M
JM
Havlin
S
S
Stanley
H E
HE
Goldberger
A L
AL
D000328:Adult; D002303:Cardiac Output, Low / Q000503:physiopathology; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000503:physiopathology; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D016011:Normal Distribution; D013997:Time Factors; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000503:physiopathology