1.3 Explain The Cardiac Cycle Essay

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1.2 & 1.3 Explain The Cardiac Cycle And Describe How The Heart Rate Is Modified According To The Needs Of The Body
When a muscle contracts and relaxes without receiving signals from nerves it is known as myogenic. In the human body, the cardiac muscle is myogenic as this configuration of contractions controls the heartbeat. Within the wall of the right atrium is the sino-atrial node (SAN), which is where the process of the heartbeat begins. It directs consistent waves of electrical activity to the atrial walls, instigating the right and the left atria to contract at the same time. During this stage, the non conducting collagen tissue within the heart prevents the waves of electrical activity from being passed directly from the atria to the ventricles because if this were to happen, it would cause a backflow. Due to this barrier, The waves of electrical energy are directed from the SAN to the atrioventricular node (AVN) which is responsible for transferring the energy to the purkyne fibres in the right and left ventricle walls. Following this, there is a pause before the wave is passed on in order to assure the atria has emptied. After this delay, the walls of the right and left ventricles contract …show more content…

It increases during physical exercise to deliver extra oxygen to the tissues and to take away excess carbon dioxide. As mentioned at rest, the heart beats around 75 beats per minute but during exercise this could exceed to 200 times per minute. The SAN controls the heart rate. The rate increases or decreases when it receives information by two autonomic nerves that link the SAN and the cardiovascular centre in the medulla of the brain. The sympathetic or accelerator nerve speeds up the heart. The synapses at the end of this nerve secretes noradrenaline. A parasympathetic or decelerator nerve, a branch of the vagus nerve slows down the heart and the synapses at the end of this nerve secretes

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