Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences: Vol 379, No 2212

Recent developments in computational physiology have effectively exploited advanced signal processing and artificial intelligence tools for uncovering characteristic features of physiological and pathological states in humans. While these advanced tools have demonstrated better-than-human diagnostic capabilities, the high complexity of these computational'black boxes' may severely limit scientific inference, especially in terms of biological insights on disease mechanisms. This theme issue highlights challenges and opportunities of advanced computational tools for processing series comprehensive of autonomic nervous system dynamics, with a more specific focus on cardiovascular control physiology and pathology. Such a wide panoramic perspective highlights the issues of specificity in heartbeat-related features and fosters the transition from the black-box paradigm to interpretable and personalised clinical models in cardiology research. This issue will soon be available to buy in print.