Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) maintains body's homeostasis by regulating heart rate and other vital functions. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) analysis is a non-invasive method used to assess ANS activity by measuring variations between consecutive heartbeats. Poincare plot, a widely used HRV analysis tool, visualizes the relationship between successive heartbeats. However, conventional Poincare plot analysis primarily relies on static statistical descriptors, such as SD1 and SD2, which measure short-term and long-term variability but fail to capture the dynamic progression of heartbeat intervals. This paper introduces motion path analysis of the Poincare plot, a novel approach that tracks how heartbeat intervals evolve over time. By following the sequential movement of data points, this method reveals both short-term and long-term HRV trends. Our study demonstrates that motion path analysis detects subtle changes in heart rate patterns under different physiological conditions, such as rest and stress (e.g. head-up tilt tests). This technique offers a more comprehensive understanding of ANS activity by visualizing point-to-point transitions influenced by sympathetic and parasympathetic responses. Motion path analysis offers a new way to visualize and interpret the complex temporal fluctuations of ANS and has potential applications in clinical research, providing deeper insight into autonomic regulation in health and disease.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This study did not receive any funding

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

Institutional Ethics Committee, Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Kolkata, India. Ethical clearance was granted

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

Yes

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Yes