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The conduction system consists of specialized heart muscle cells, situated within the myocardium. [3] There is a skeleton of fibrous tissue that surrounds the conduction system which can be seen on an ECG. Dysfunction of the conduction system can cause irregular heart rhythms including rhythms that are too fast or too slow.
The cardiomyocytes make up the bulk (99%) of cells in the atria and ventricles. These contractile cells respond to impulses of action potential from the pacemaker cells and are responsible for the contractions that pump blood through the body. The pacemaker cells make up just (1% of cells) and form the conduction system of the heart.
The cells that make up the SA node are specialized cardiomyocytes known as pacemaker cells that can spontaneously generate cardiac action potentials. These signals are propagated through the heart's electrical conduction system. [1] [2] Only one percent of the heart muscle cells are conductive, the rest of the cardiomyocytes are contractile.
Each gap junction (sometimes called a nexus) contains numerous gap junction channels that cross the plasma membranes of both cells. [11] With a lumen diameter of about 1.2 to 2.0 nm, [2] [12] the pore of a gap junction channel is wide enough to allow ions and even medium-size molecules like signaling molecules to flow from one cell to the next, [2] [13] thereby connecting the two cells' cytoplasm.
living organisms (example in insects), excised tissue (acute or cultured), dissociated cells from excised tissue (acute or cultured), artificially grown cells or tissues, or; hybrids of the above. Neuronal electrophysiology is the study of electrical properties of biological cells and tissues within the nervous system.
The action potential passes along the cell membrane causing the cell to contract, therefore the activity of the sinoatrial node results in a resting heart rate of roughly 60–100 beats per minute. All cardiac muscle cells are electrically linked to one another, by intercalated discs which allow the action potential to pass from one cell to the ...
Neurons are the primary components of the nervous system, along with the glial cells that give them structural and metabolic support. [5] The nervous system is made up of the central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system, which includes the autonomic, enteric and somatic nervous systems. [6]
The Purkinje fibers are specialized conducting fibers composed of electrically excitable cells. [3] They are larger than cardiomyocytes with fewer myofibrils and many mitochondria. They conduct cardiac action potentials more quickly and efficiently than any of the other cells in the heart's electrical conduction system. [4]