ABSTRACT
The arterial baroreceptor reflex (BRR) is a key neurogenic control mechanism of the arterial blood pressure (BP) that acts as a negative feedback corrector. It counteracts BP deviations from a reference set point by modulating heart rate (HR) and peripheral resistance. BP and HR interact on a beat-to-beat basis to maintain adequate circulation to all organs, especially the brain. The BP and HR fast interactions have been shown to be mediated via the autonomic nervous system (ANS), that is, the BRR. Since perturbations of BP elicit HR response, HR oscillations are delayed with respect to BP oscillations, for the time needed for transmission and the processing of information by the ANS. Cardiovascular diseases are accompanied by BRR remodeling. In primary hypertension, the BRR works around a higher BP set-point value due to the chronic hyperadrenergic state. The complex BRR control has a time-dependent gain and nonlinear characteristics along the negative feedback path.
