A neurostimulation system, comprising: an electrode assembly (13, 14); and a neurostimulator (12; 900; 910, 920) coupled to the electrode assembly, the neurostimulator comprising a control circuit (902; 912); and a memory (903; 913) operably coupled to the control circuit and comprising instructions that when executed by the control circuit, cause the control circuit to: deliver stimulation signals to a patient via the electrode assembly; increase an intensity of the stimulation signals until a tachycardia heart rate response in the patient is detected; continue to increase the intensity of the stimulation signals until a bradycardia heart rate response in the patient is detected; deliver therapeutic stimulation signals to the patient at an intensity within a neural fulcrum zone, wherein the neural fulcrum zone corresponds to a zone in which a response of the patient to stimulation is a 0% to 5% reduction from a baseline heart rate; calculate a moving median of a subset of heart beats over a first period of time identify paired maxima and minima points in the moving median; and identify one or more heart rate recovery events, each heart rate recovery event corresponding to a period of time during which the paired maxima and minima points satisfy a predetermined criteria. an electrode assembly (13, 14); and a neurostimulator (12; 900; 910, 920) coupled to the electrode assembly, the neurostimulator comprising a control circuit (902; 912); and a memory (903; 913) operably coupled to the control circuit and comprising instructions that when executed by the control circuit, cause the control circuit to: deliver stimulation signals to a patient via the electrode assembly; increase an intensity of the stimulation signals until a tachycardia heart rate response in the patient is detected; continue to increase the intensity of the stimulation signals until a bradycardia heart rate response in the patient is detected; deliver therapeutic stimulation signals to the patient at an intensity within a neural fulcrum zone, wherein the neural fulcrum zone corresponds to a zone in which a response of the patient to stimulation is a 0% to 5% reduction from a baseline heart rate; calculate a moving median of a subset of heart beats over a first period of time identify paired maxima and minima points in the moving median; and identify one or more heart rate recovery events, each heart rate recovery event corresponding to a period of time during which the paired maxima and minima points satisfy a predetermined criteria. a memory (903; 913) operably coupled to the control circuit and comprising instructions that when executed by the control circuit, cause the control circuit to: deliver stimulation signals to a patient via the electrode assembly; increase an intensity of the stimulation signals until a tachycardia heart rate response in the patient is detected; continue to increase the intensity of the stimulation signals until a bradycardia heart rate response in the patient is detected; deliver therapeutic stimulation signals to the patient at an intensity within a neural fulcrum zone, wherein the neural fulcrum zone corresponds to a zone in which a response of the patient to stimulation is a 0% to 5% reduction from a baseline heart rate; deliver stimulation signals to a patient via the electrode assembly; increase an intensity of the stimulation signals until a tachycardia heart rate response in the patient is detected; continue to increase the intensity of the stimulation signals until a bradycardia heart rate response in the patient is detected; deliver therapeutic stimulation signals to the patient at an intensity within a neural fulcrum zone, wherein the neural fulcrum zone corresponds to a zone in which a response of the patient to stimulation is a 0% to 5% reduction from a baseline heart rate; calculate a moving median of a subset of heart beats over a first period of time identify paired maxima and minima points in the moving median; and identify one or more heart rate recovery events, each heart rate recovery event corresponding to a period of time during which the paired maxima and minima points satisfy a predetermined criteria.