title: Tai Chi Chuan modulates heart rate variability during abdominal breathing in elderly adults.
abstract: Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) practice is currently intentionally applied in clinical populations, especially those with cardiovascular diseases because of its potential benefits on the autonomic nervous system. The long-term effect of TCC practice on heart rate variability (HRV) remains largely unknown. In this study, we recruited 23 TCC practitioners whose experience averaged approximately 21 years and 19 controls matched by age, sex and education to examine the effect of TCC practice on the autonomic nervous system during a resting state and during an abdominal breathing state. HRV was measured by traditional electrocardiogram (ECG) recording. The results showed that the low frequency, total power frequency, and normalized low frequency components and the low-frequency/high-frequency ratio were significantly higher, whereas the normalized high frequency was significantly lower in the TCC practitioners relative to controls during the abdominal breathing state. However, we did not detect any significant difference in the HRV measures during the resting state between the two groups. Additionally, TCC experience did not correlate with HRV components either in the abdominal state or the resting state in the TCC group. Considering all of these findings, we suggest that TCC improves vagal activity and the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity during the relaxation state. This study also provides direct physiological evidence for the role of TCC practice in relaxation.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Gao-Xia
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment Toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: You-Fa
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Lin
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment Toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing, China.|Department of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Athletics and Coaching Science, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Kai
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Sport Science Research Center, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Long-Yan
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Capital University of Physical Education and Sports, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jing-Cheng
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xi-Nian
authors.initials: XN
authors.lastname: Zuo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012119:Respiration; D026302:Tai Ji
keywords: Tai Chi Chuan; breathing; extensive training; frequency domain analysis; heart rate variability