Characterization of cardiorespiratory phase synchronization and directionality in late premature and full term infants

Objective Though the mutual influence of cardiovascular and respiratory rhythms in healthy newborns has been documented, its full characterization is still pending. In general, activity of many physiological subsystems has a well expressed rhythmic character, and often an interdependency between physiological rhythms emerges early in development. Traditional methods of data analysis only address the quantification of the strength of subsystem interactions. In this work, we will investigate system interrelationships in terms of possible presence of causal or directional interplays.