Change of Spectral Analysis of Fetal Heart Rate During Clinical Hypnosis: a Prospective Randomised Trial from the 20th Week of Gestation Till Term.

Objective: To investigate the functional adaptive process of the fetal autonomic nervous system during hypnosis from the 20th week of gestation till term. Are there changes in the power spectrum analysis of fetal heart rate when the mother is having a clinical hypnosis or control period? Study Design: Fourty-nine FHR recordings were analysed. Included recordings were from singletons and abdominal fetal ECG-monitored pregnancies. All women were randomised to receive clinical hypnosis followed by a period with no intervention or vice versa. Statistical analyses were performed with the Wilcoxon signed ranks and Spearman rho correlation tests. Results: There was a significant difference found between fetal heart rate at baseline (144.3 ± 6.0) and hypnosis (142.1 ± 6.4). A difference was also detected between the standard deviation of the heart rate between baseline (6.7 ± 1.9) and hypnosis (6.8 ± 3.5). LFnu was smaller during baseline (80.2 ± 5.3) than during hypnosis (82.1 ± 5.7), whereas HFnu was significantly larger (19.8 ± 5.3 vs. 17.9 ± 5.7). There was no correlation between the gestation age and the change in LFnu, HFnu or ratio LF/HF due to the hypnosis intervention. Conclusion: The functional adaptive process of the fetal autonomic system during hypnosis is reflected by a sympathovagal shift towards increased sympathetic modulation.

[1]  A Gemignani,et al.  Changes in autonomic and EEG patterns induced by hypnotic imagination of aversive stimuli in man , 2000, Brain Research Bulletin.

[2]  E Picano,et al.  Hypnosis effect on RR interval and blood pressure variability. , 1996, Clinical science.

[3]  S. Yi,et al.  Spectral analysis of fetal heart rate variability as a predictor of intrapartum fetal distress , 2001, International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics.

[4]  W J Ray,et al.  EEG activity and heart rate during recall of emotional events in hypnosis: relationships with hypnotizability and suggestibility. , 1998, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[5]  D. Malaspina,et al.  Nonlinear Complexity and Spectral Analyses of Heart Rate Variability in Medicated and Unmedicated Patients with Schizophrenia1 , 2005, Neuropsychobiology.

[6]  M. Bushnell,et al.  Hypnosis Modulates Activity in Brain Structures Involved in the Regulation of Consciousness , 2002, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[7]  J. Gruzelier.  The role of psychological intervention in modulating aspects of immune function in relation to health and well-being. , 2002, International review of neurobiology.

[8]  J. Reinhard,et al.  Preterm labour and clinical hypnosis , 2009 .

[9]  V. De Pascalis,et al.  EEG asymmetry and heart rate during experience of hypnotic analgesia in high and low hypnotizables. , 1996, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[10]  Alberto Malliani,et al.  Principles of Cardiovascular Neural Regulation in Health and Disease , 2012, Basic Science for the Cardiologist.

[11]  A. Malliani,et al.  Heart rate variability. Standards of measurement, physiological interpretation, and clinical use , 1996 .

[12]  T. Barber,et al.  The Barber Suggestibility Scale and the Creative Imagination Scale: experimental and clinical applications. , 1978, The American journal of clinical hypnosis.

[13]  D. H. Watts,et al.  Effect of Pregnancy , 2005, Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes.

[14]  [Maturation of the autonomic nervous system: differences in heart rate variability at different gestational weeks]. , 2010, Zeitschrift fur Geburtshilfe und Neonatologie.

[15]  S Cerutti,et al.  Autonomic changes during hypnosis: a heart rate variability power spectrum analysis as a marker of sympatho-vagal balance. , 1994, The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis.

[16]  Dirk Ramaekers,et al.  EFFECTS OF AUTONOMIC BLOCKADE ON NON‐LINEAR CARDIOVASCULAR VARIABILITY INDICES IN RATS , 2006, Clinical and experimental pharmacology & physiology.

[17]  G. Hole,et al.  Autonomic Profile under Hypnosis as Assessed by Heart Rate Variability and Spectral Analysis , 2001, Pharmacopsychiatry.

[18]  Frank Beckers,et al.  Cardiac Autonomic Regulation under Hypnosis Assessed by Heart Rate Variability: Spectral Analysis and Fractal Complexity , 2009, Neuropsychobiology.

[19]  D Grönemeyer,et al.  Fetal heart rate variability and complexity in the course of pregnancy. , 1999, Early human development.

[20]  J Haueisen,et al.  Fetal heart rate variability reveals differential dynamics in the intrauterine development of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system , 2009, Physiological measurement.

[21]  R. Mantel,et al.  Spectral analysis of fetal heart rhythm in relation to fetal regular mouthing. , 1990, International journal of bio-medical computing.

[22]  P. Whorwell,et al.  Long-term improvement in functional dyspepsia using hypnotherapy. , 2002, Gastroenterology.

[23]  P. Whorwell,et al.  Physiological effects of emotion: assessment via hypnosis , 1992, The Lancet.

[24]  Jeffrey M. Hausdorff,et al.  Fractal dynamics in physiology: Alterations with disease and aging , 2002, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[25]  N. Covino,et al.  Empirical findings on the use of hypnosis in medicine: A critical review , 2000, The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis.

[26]  Solange Akselrod,et al.  An estimate of fetal autonomic state by time-frequency analysis of fetal heart rate variability. , 2007, Journal of applied physiology.

[27]  C. Degueldre,et al.  Functional neuroanatomy of hypnotic state , 1999, Biological Psychiatry.

[28]  T R Johnson,et al.  Complementary and non-coincident increases in heart rate variability and irregularity during fetal development. , 1997, Clinical science.

[29]  R T Wakai,et al.  Spectral analysis of antepartum fetal heart rate variability from fetal magnetocardiogram recordings. , 1993, Early human development.

[30]  Quantification of the fetal heart rate variability by spectral analysis in growth-retarded fetuses. , 1988, Gynecologic and obstetric investigation.

[31]  J. Hayano,et al.  Effect of relaxation training on cardiac parasympathetic tone. , 1994, Psychophysiology.

[32]  Frank Beckers,et al.  Aging and nonlinear heart rate control in a healthy population. , 2006, American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology.

[33]  P. Whorwell,et al.  Long term benefits of hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome , 2003, Gut.

[34]  H. Hüsken-Janßen,et al.  Hypnoreflexogene Methode der Geburtsvorbereitung nach Schauble , 2007 .

[35]  A. Cyna,et al.  The Effect of Pregnancy on Hypnotizability , 2009, The American journal of clinical hypnosis.

[36]  T. Gnecchi-Ruscone,et al.  Effect of hypnotic sedation during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty on myocardial ischemia and cardiac sympathetic drive. , 2004, The American journal of cardiology.

[37]  W. Krieg.  Functional Neuroanatomy , 1953, Springer Series in Experimental Entomology.

[38]  Ary L. Goldberger.  Nonlinear dynamics, fractals and chaos: Applications to cardiac electrophysiology , 2006, Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

[39]  P. M. Penna,et al.  40-Hz EEG activity during hypnotic induction and hypnotic testing. , 1990, The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis.

[40]  Dietrich Grönemeyer,et al.  Changes in the frequency power spectrum of fetal heart rate in the course of pregnancy , 2003, Prenatal diagnosis.

[41]  K. Quigley,et al.  Cardiovascular reactivity during hypnosis and hypnotic susceptibility: Three studies of heart rate variability , 2000, The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis.

[42]  R. Cohen,et al.  Power spectrum analysis of heart rate fluctuation: a quantitative probe of beat-to-beat cardiovascular control. , 1981, Science.

[43]  C R Brinkman,et al.  Development of neurohumoral control of fetal, neonatal, and adult cardiovascular functions. , 1977, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.