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Autonomic Neural Control of Cardiac Function

  • Chapter
Physiology and Pathophysiology of the Heart

Part of the book series: Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine ((DICM,volume 90))

Abstract

The various structures in the heart are regulated by both divisions of the autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic division is facilitatory, whereas the parasympathetic is inhibitory. The central nervous system controls the relative levels of sympathetic and vagal activity, usually in a reciprocal fashion; that is, as sympathetic activity increases, parasympathetic activity usually diminishes, and vice versa. In certain regions of the heart, such as the nodal tissues, parasympathetic effects tend to predominate over sympathetic influences. However, in other regions, such as the ventricular myocardium, the effects of the sympathetic division are usually much greater than those of the parasympathetic division. When both divisions are active simultaneously, the sympathetic and vagal effects usually do not summate algebraically. Instead, nonlinear sympathetic-parasympathetic interactions are prominent.

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Authors
  1. Matthew N. Levy
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  2. Paul J. Martin
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and Biophysics and College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, 231 Bethesda Avenue, 45267-0579, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Nicholas Sperelakis

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© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Levy, M.N., Martin, P.J. (1989). Autonomic Neural Control of Cardiac Function. In: Sperelakis, N. (eds) Physiology and Pathophysiology of the Heart. Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol 90. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0873-7_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0873-7_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8222-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0873-7

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