Pulse Transit Time Feedback and Bidirectional Blood Pressure Change

The current study examined the effects of pulse transit time feedback on systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Three subjects were given feedback designed to increase or decrease transit times. Eleven-twelve one-hour training sessions were provided over a two-week period. The results showed that during increase training, significant increases in systolic pressure and heart rate were observed, while pulse transit time showed a significant decrease. Diastolic blood pressure increases were moderate and only inconsistently observed. During decrease training, diastolic pressure and heart rate declined significantly below baseline. Pulse transit time increases were consistent but lower in magnitude than observed for the opposite training condition. Moderate systolic blood pressure decreases were inconsistently observed.