Functional Brain-Heart Interplay From Physiology to Advanced Methodology of Signal Processing and Modeling

This monograph offers a cross-system exchange and cross-modality investigation into brain-heart interplay. Brain-Heart Interplay (BHI) is a highly interdisciplinary scientific topic, which spreads from the physiology of the Central/Autonomous Nervous Systems, especially Central Autonomic Network, to advanced signal processing and modeling for its activity quantification. Motivated by clinical evidence and supported by recent findings in neurophysiology, this monograph first explores the definition of basic Brain-Heart Interplay quantifiers, and then moves onto advanced methods for the assessment of health and disease states. Non-invasive use of brain monitoring techniques, including electroencephalogram and function Magnetic Resonance Imaging, will be described together with heartbeat dynamics monitoring through pulseoximeter and ECG signals.

The audience of this book comprises especially of biomedical engineers and medical doctors with expertise in statistics and/or signal processing. Researchers in the fields of cardiology, neurology, psychiatry, and neuroscience in general may be interested as well.

1. Physiology of Brain-Heart Interplay.- 2. Brain and Heart Signal Processing Methodology.- 3. Quantification of Functional Brain-Heart Interplay.- 4. Exemplary Applications to Real Brain and Heartbeat Data.- 5. Future Direction of Research and Prospective Applications using Functional Brain-Heart Interplay Assessment

Gaetano Valenza, Ph.D., is a Senior Researcher at the University of Pisa and head of the Neuro-Cardiovascular Intelligence lab at the University of Pisa, Italy.  His research interests include statistical and nonlinear biomedical signal and image processing, cardiovascular and neural modeling, physiologically-interpretable artificial intelligence systems, and wearable systems for physiological monitoring. Applications of his research include the assessment of autonomic nervous system activity on cardiovascular control, brain-heart interactions, affective computing, assessment of mood and mental/neurological disorders. He is an author of more than 250 international scientific contributions in these fields published in peer-reviewed international journals, conference proceedings, books and book chapters. He has been involved in several international research projects and has been serving as guest/associate editor for several scientific journals.   

Vincenzo Catrambone, Ph.D., is a post-doc fellow at the University of Pisa and member of the Neuro-Cardiovascular Intelligence lab at the University of Pisa, Italy. His research work spans statistical and nonlinear biomedical signal and image processing, cardiovascular and neural modeling, physiologically-interpretable artificial intelligence systems. Applications of his research include the assessment of brain-heart interactions in physiological and pathological conditions, brain-computer interfaces, affective computing, assessment of mood and mental/neurological disorders, and neurorehabilitation. His Ph.D. Thesis was specifically focused on the estimation of functional brain-heart interplay. He is an author of several international scientific contributions in these fields published in peer-reviewed international journals, and conference proceedings. He is involved in several international research projects, and in the past, he has been visiting researcher at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon,France, and at the Maastricht University, Netherlands.