The rhythm of the heart beat. I—Location, action potential, and electrical excitability of the pacemaker

Anatomical and physiological investigations on the heart during the last fifty years have contributed a sound body of knowledge concerning the location of its rhythmic centre (the pacemaker) and tire spread thence of excitation, The classical controversy between the exponents of the neurogenic view...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Containing papers of a biological character Containing papers of a biological character, 1934-07, Vol.115 (794), p.307-327
Main Authors: Eccles, John Carew, Hoff, H. E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Action potentials
Artificial pacemakers
Diastole
Electrodes
Heart
Neural conduction
Oscilloscopes
Premature cardiac complexes
Refractory periods
Sinuses
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Summary:Anatomical and physiological investigations on the heart during the last fifty years have contributed a sound body of knowledge concerning the location of its rhythmic centre (the pacemaker) and tire spread thence of excitation, The classical controversy between the exponents of the neurogenic view and of the myogenic view of the origin of the heart beat, may now be regarded as settled in favour of the latter, for the evidence against even the nerve fibre modification of the neurogenic theory is overwhelming, and none of the evidence supporting it stands the test of modern criticism, There remains the more fundamental problem of the nature of those processes in the rhythm centre which are responsible for its recurrent discharge. There has been much speculation concerning them, but no systematic attempt at elucidation. Engelmann (1895, 1897) postulated a constant weak "inner stimulus," to which the centre is sensitive in varying degree; this sensitivity (considered to be identical with its sensitivity to electrical stimulation) gradually increases during diastole, until a threshold is reached and discharge occurs. Gaskell (1900, p. 190) expressed an essentially similar view (cf. Adrian, 1930), and this view has some support in the evidence of Ishikawa (1924), who found that the excitability of the frog's sinus, but not of ventricle or auricle, increases throughout diastole until the next beat occurs. Langendorff (1902) suggested that the inner stimulus might be provided by the products of dissimilation (Lebensprodukt).
ISSN:0950-1193
2053-9185
DOI:10.1098/rspb.1934.0042