Max Schmausser

Top: Experimental set up. Single pulses of TMS were applied to the hand area of the right primary motor cortex with an inter-pulse interval randomized between 6 and 10 s. Simultaneously, the neuronavigated coil position (yellow), electrocardiogram (red), respiratory signal (blue), electrogastrogram (green), and electromyography from the left hand (gray) were recorded. The figure shows traces of a 20-s time segment from one participant of the cardiac (raw), respiratory (filtered), gastric (filtered), and EMG (raw) signals. The experimental measure was the Motor Evoked Potential amplitude measured on a hand muscle (first dorsal interosseous), analyzed against the phase of the cardiac, respiratory, and gastric rhythms. Note that the three rhythms have very different periods (~1 s for the heart, ~ 5 s for respiration, and ~20 s for the gastric rhythm). Bottom: Artwork illustrating how rhythms of the internal organs interact with the moment-to-moment fluctuations observed in corticospinal motor excitability. Image depicts an outline of a brain with representations of the three rhythmic organs influencing the motor system: the heart, lungs, and stomach. Image credit: Tahnée Engelen.

How do internal bodily rhythms influence #brain activity & motor function? @tahnee-engelen.bsky.social &co show that #cardiac, #respiratory & #gastric rhythms independently modulate motor excitability, revealing distinct #interoceptive profiles across individuals @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4nMtpLT

Incredible study by Raut et al.: by tracking a single measure (pupil size), you can model slow, large-scale dynamics in neuronal calcium, metabolism, and brain blood oxygen through a shared latent space! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Villringer et al. Figure 1. Conceptual framework for brain–body states

Villringer et al. Figure 2 Brain–body micro-, meso-, and macro-states can be distinguished on the basis of their duration and reversibility

'Brain–body states as a link between cardiovascular and mental health'

by Arno Villringer, Vadim Nikulin & Michael Gaebler @mbe-lab.bsky.social @michaelgaebler.com @mpicbs.bsky.social sky.social

www.cell.com/trends/neuro...

Long-term ECG data have great potential to expand research into diurnal variation of heart rate variability, beyond short-term measures of resting state. Data processing, however, is labor intensive. Led by Maximilian Schmaußer, we compared the performance of open-source tool boxes 1/2

Thanks, Emilia! Systole performed best overall, though all tools produced outliers we needed to double-check. Happy to share more if you're interested!

Inspiring few days in Erice talking all things ‘Stress and the ANS’ and presenting our work by @david-spalding.bsky.social and Toni Ejoor on HRV in GAD.

Three days left to participate in round one of our Delphi study. 🔥

For more infos, follow the link! #hormones #psychoneuroendocrinology 🧪

Our new paper on fully automated ECG processing pipelines is out!

We benchmarked NeuroKit2, RHRV, and Systole against the manual gold standard (Kubios) using 48h ECG recordings.

⬇️ Abstract

www.researchgate.net/publication/...

A graphical abstract titled "Can Beta-Blockers Manipulate Interoception? A Placebo-Controlled Study." The image illustrates how bisoprolol and propranolol affect interoception. On the left, a green figure represents bisoprolol, showing a zoomed-in synapse where it selectively blocks β1 receptors. On the right, a purple figure represents propranolol, blocking both β1 and β2 receptors, affecting both brain and body. A psychophysics graph models interoceptive responses, showing response intensity over trials. Below, line plots compare placebo, propranolol, and bisoprolol effects on interoception—cardioception (threshold) and respiroception (slope)—indicating drug effects on bodily awareness.

Can we enhance interoception by controlling the heart? Thrilled to share our new study, led by @ashleytyrer.bsky.social , where we use computational modeling to show that blockading peripheral noradrenaline uniquely alters awareness of heart rate & breathing! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵👇

Fascinating results on distinctive peripheral beta-blockade effects on cardiac and respiratory interoceptive sensitivity and metacognition presented by @micahgallen.com @the-ecg.bsky.social at the #MindBrainBody Symposium 💊🫀🫁

#MBBS25