TY - JOUR
T1 - Asymmetric sympathetic output : the dorsomedial hypothalamus as a potential link between emotional stress and cardiac arrhythmias
AU - Fontes, Marco Antonio Peliky
AU - Filho, Marcelo Limborco
AU - Machado, Natalia L. Santos
AU - Paula, Cristiane Amorim de
AU - Cordeiro, Leticia M. Souza
AU - Xavier, Carlos Henrique
AU - Marins, Fernanda Ribeiro
AU - Henderson, Luke
AU - Macefield, Vaughan G.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - The autonomic response to emotional stress, while involving several target organs, includes an important increase in sympathetic drive to the heart. There is ample evidence that cardiac sympathetic innervation is lateralized, and asymmetric autonomic output to the heart during stress is postulated to be a causal factor that precipitates cardiac arrhythmias. Recent animal studies provided a new picture of the central pathways involved in the cardiac sympathetic response evoked by emotional stress, pointing out a key role for the region of dorsomedial hypothalamus. However, how much of this information can be extrapolated to humans? Analysis of human functional imaging data at rest or during emotional stress shows some consistency with the components that integrate these pathways, and attention must be given to the asymmetric activation of subcortical sites. In this short review, we will discuss related findings in humans and animals, aiming to understand the neurogenic background for the origin of emotional stress-induced cardiac arrhythmias.
AB - The autonomic response to emotional stress, while involving several target organs, includes an important increase in sympathetic drive to the heart. There is ample evidence that cardiac sympathetic innervation is lateralized, and asymmetric autonomic output to the heart during stress is postulated to be a causal factor that precipitates cardiac arrhythmias. Recent animal studies provided a new picture of the central pathways involved in the cardiac sympathetic response evoked by emotional stress, pointing out a key role for the region of dorsomedial hypothalamus. However, how much of this information can be extrapolated to humans? Analysis of human functional imaging data at rest or during emotional stress shows some consistency with the components that integrate these pathways, and attention must be given to the asymmetric activation of subcortical sites. In this short review, we will discuss related findings in humans and animals, aiming to understand the neurogenic background for the origin of emotional stress-induced cardiac arrhythmias.
KW - arrhythmia
KW - brain
KW - heart
KW - stress (psychology)
UR - http://handle.westernsydney.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:38772
U2 - 10.1016/j.autneu.2017.01.001
DO - 10.1016/j.autneu.2017.01.001
M3 - Article
SN - 1566-0702
VL - 207
SP - 22
EP - 27
JO - Autonomic Neuroscience
JF - Autonomic Neuroscience
ER -