Probing the cardiac arm of the baroreflex and complementary branches

Baroreflex is one of the most important reflexes contributing to human homeostasis. It adjusts several cardiovascular variables including heart period, sympathetic activity, ventricular contractility, stroke volume and peripheral resistances to buffer arterial pressure variations. Baroreflex is usually studied by focusing on a single arm at a time. The arm of the baroreflex modifying heart period in response to arterial pressure changes, referred to as cardiac baroreflex, is the most frequently evaluated for its clinical value, while other branches, such as those targeting sympathetic activity and peripheral resistances, are less commonly typified. The simultaneous assessment of several arms of the baroreflex might provide a more complete picture of its complexity.

This Research Topic aims at exploring the potentiality of the simultaneous evaluation of different arms of the baroreflex. This Research Topic welcomes submissions related to the description of various branches of the baroreflex, especially whether this exploration allows a direct evaluation of the redundant/complementary information obtained from the description of different components. We accept contributions exploring the circuitry of the various baroreflex branches at central level as well as at peripheral level (i.e. efferent and afferent pathways) in the form of original research, reviews, method articles and commentaries on both humans and animal models.