Organism
Cardiac Pacemaker Cells (SA Node)
TL;DR
Specialized pacemaker cells in the sinoatrial (SA) node that spontaneously generate rhythmic electrical signals controlling heartbeat.
Specialized pacemaker cells in the sinoatrial (SA) node that spontaneously generate rhythmic electrical signals controlling heartbeat. The heart's intrinsic rhythm persists without nervous system input - transplanted hearts resume beating when rewarmed despite having no nervous connections.
Exemplifies distributed control architecture with advantages in robustness, autonomy, local responsiveness, and scalability. Hearts of different sizes (birds to blue whales) use the same distributed mechanism.
Notable Traits of Cardiac Pacemaker Cells (SA Node)
- Spontaneous rhythmic signal generation
- Operates without nervous system input
- Backup pacemakers provide redundancy