Direct relationship between heartbeat-evoked cortical responses and mechanical brain pathways

Determine whether heartbeat-evoked cortical responses (heartbeat-evoked potentials computed from neural recordings) have a direct relationship to mechanical pathways in the brain caused by blood-pressure pulsations at each heartbeat, thereby clarifying the physiological mechanism underlying these responses.

Background

Heartbeat-evoked responses are typically computed by averaging brain signals time-locked to cardiac events (R- or T-peaks) and have been linked to cortical processing of interoceptive cardiac signals. However, their computation lacks consensus regarding baseline correction, artifact removal, and preprocessing, and non-invasive identification of the precise cortical and subcortical generators remains challenging.

Recent work highlights that each heartbeat induces mechanical blood pressure pulsations that can modulate neural activity, suggesting a potential mechanosensory pathway in the brain. Establishing whether heartbeat-evoked responses directly reflect these mechanical effects would ground their physiological interpretation, help disentangle them from cardiac-field artifacts, and refine their use as interoceptive biomarkers across health and disease.