Is the normal heartbeat chaotic or homeostatic?

Author: A L Goldberger1
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215. <sup>2</sup> Harvard Med Sch, Boston, Cardiovascular Div
Conference/Journal: News Physiol Sci
Date published: 1991 Apr 1
Other: Volume ID: 6 , Pages: 87-91 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1152/physiologyonline.1991.6.2.87. , Word Count: 54


Limits to the usefulness of homeostasis as a guiding physiological principle are revealed by new mechanisms derived from study of nonlinear systems that generate a type of variability called chaos. Loss of complex physiological variability may occur in certain pathological conditions including heart rate dynamics before sudden death and with aging.


PMID: 11537649 DOI: 10.1152/physiologyonline.1991.6.2.87