CONTROL OF THE HEART
THE CARDIAC CYCLE
COORDINATION OF THE HEART
● The heart knows how to make the atria contract first,
followed by the ventricles in a split second.
● It also knows how to increase and decrease heart rate to
meet demands of the body and environment
● But HOW does the heart know to do this?
With the help of two things:
● The cardiovascular center in the medulla oblongata
(base of brain)
● Cardiac Muscle that makes up the heart
CARDIAC MUSCLE
When muscle contracts,
it requires a stimulus.
With skeletal and smooth
muscle that stimulus or
signal comes from the
brain
When cardiac muscle
contracts that stimulus
comes from within the
muscle. The heart has an
intrinsic electrical
system or myogenic
INTRINSIC ELECTRICAL SIGNAL
This system ensures that the atria contracts first,
followed by the APEX to the top of the ventricles
1. Sinoatrial Node or pacemaker - situated in the
atria
2. Atrioventricular node- situated between the atria
and ventricles
3. Purkinje fibers- which travel towards the apex of
the heart between the walls of both ventricles
(septum)
Electrical Stimuli
of heart
Treatment for Atrioventricular (AV) Block in
Washington DC & Maryland (washingtonhra.com)
SAN, AVN AND PURKINJE FIBERS
1.The impulse from the SAN stimulates the cardiac muscle to
contract
2.This impulse must be relayed to AVN in order for
ventricles to receive it. There is a ring of non-conducting
fibrous tissue separating the atria from ventricles
preventing the stimulus to be relayed without an AVN.
3. When the impulse reaches the AVN it slows down for 0.1s
(AVN relays and delays)
4. It continues to the purkinje fibers signalling
contraction from the base upwards
Cardiovascular center in the brain
There are two parts of the CVC in the brain that control
heart rate:
1.The cardiac accelerator center: use the accelerator nerve
to send signals to SAN, AVN and other parts of the heart.
Signal: a neurotransmitter called noradrenaline
1.The cardiac inhibitory center: use the decelerator nerve
(vagus nerve) to send signals to SAN and AVN
Signal: a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine
How does the cardiovascular centre respond to exercise?
When the muscles are active they respire more
quickly and cause several changes to the blood,
such as
● decreased oxygen concentration,
● increased carbon dioxide concentration,
● decreased pH (since the carbon dioxide
dissolves to form carbonic acid
● increased temperature.
How does the cardiovascular centre respond to exercise?
All of these changes are detected by various receptor cells
around the body.
The main chemoreceptors (receptor cells that can detect
chemical changes) are found in:
1. The walls of the AORTA (the aortic body), monitoring the
blood as it leaves the heart
2. The walls of the CAROTID arteries (the carotid bodies),
monitoring the blood to the head and brain
3. The medulla, monitoring the tissue fluid in the brain
The chemoreceptors send nerve impulses to the
cardiovascular centre indicating that more respiration is
taking place, and the cardiovascular centre responds by
increasing the heart rate.
Home work
Reading Assignment: CAPE study guide
Factors that affect Heart Rate
Make note of at least three factors
THE CARDIAC CYCLE
SYSTOLE AND DIASTOLE
What is the cardiac cycle
The cardiac cycle is the sequence of events that makes up
one heartbeat.
Lasts about 0.8s
The contraction and relaxation of both the atria followed by
the ventricles
Two main components of the cardiac cycle:
Diastole and Systole (of both atria and ventricles)
THREE MAIN EVENTS: Blood flows because of pressure differences
ATRIAL SYSTOLE (Ventricular Diastole)0.1s
1. Impulses from the Sino-Atrial Node allow
for the atria to contract (systole)
QUESTION: During contraction there is an
increase in pressure in both atria. Blood
flows from high pressure areas to low
pressure areas. So why does it only flow
into the ventricles? And not back into the
veins?
2. All blood in atria is pushed into the
ventricles through the atrioventricular
valves (bicuspid and tricuspid)
Ventricular systole (atrial diastole) 0.3s
1. Once the ventricles are full, the
AVN sends impulses to purkinje
fibers at the base of the heart
and allows contraction of
ventricles from the bottom to top.
2. Another difference in pressure:
where ventricles are now greater
in pressure than atria which
causes the atrioventricular valves
to SHUT.
3. Blood is pushed through the
semilunar valves into the arteries
(pulmonary artery and aorta)
CARDIAC DIASTOLE (0.4s)
1. All chambers are relaxed, no
impulse from by SAN. The atria
and ventricles are filling
passively
2. Atrioventricular valves are
open
3. Semilunar valves are closed to
prevent backflow of blood from
arteries where there is a
higher pressure
