Unit 8 Flashcards
Four Main Functions of the Heart
- temperature and ph regulation
- transporting oxygen and nutrients to all the cells in the body
- transporting carbon dioxide and waste products out of the cell
- transports and distributes hormones and other substances w/in the body
Anatomy: Two Side by Side Pumps
- right atrium + ventricle: pumps blood to the lungs
- left atrium + ventricle: pumps blood to the body
- wall of the left ventricle is much thicker than the wall of the right ventricle.
- why?
- it pumps blood to the rest of the body and must contract more forcefully than the right ventricle which pumps blood to the ner by lungsts
What is the function of the valves in the heart?
- valves in the heart ensure the one-way flow of blood through the heart.
- Right atrioventricular valve (tricuspid)
- Left atrioventricular valve (bicuspid or mitral valve)
Superior Vena Cava
delivers blood from the head + upper limbs to the heart
Pulmonary Artery
Blood leaving the right ventricle travels to the pulmonary artery
Aorta
- Blood leaving the left ventricle travels through the aorta + is distributed through the entire body
Atria
- Right atrium receives blood from the entire body
- blood is low in oxygen + high in carbon dioxide.
- the right atrium pumps blood into the right ventricle through the right atrioventricular valve (tricuspid)
- Left Atrium
- receives blood the has come from the lungs
- blood is rich in oxygen and low in co2
- the left atrium will pump blood into the left ventricle through the bicuspid valve.
Ventricles
- Right Ventricle
- receives blood from the atrium and pumps it into the pulmonary artery
- pulmonary artery then delivers this blood to the lungs for gas exchange
- Left Ventricle
- receives blood from left atrium and pumps it into the aorta
- aorta delivers the blood to the rest of the body.
Right AV valve (tricuspid)
- ensures that the blood travels only in one direction, from the right atrium to the right ventricle
- prevents blood from backing up into the atrium when the ventricles contract.
Left AV valve (bicuspid/mitral)
- ensures blood travels only in one direction from the left atrium to the left ventricle
- prevents blood from backing up into the atrium when the ventricles contract.
Pulmonary Semilunar Valve
- Ensures that blood travels only in one direction
- from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery + prevents the blood from backing up into the ventricle when it relaxes
Aortic Semilunar Valve
Ensures blood travels only in one direction from left ventricle to the aorta and prevents the blood from backing up into the left ventricle when it relaxes.
Chordae tendineae
- cords of collagen that attach to the valve at one end and to papillary muscles at the other
- structures prevent the AV valve from being pushed into the atria when the pressure in the ventricle is high
Papillary Muscle
- extension of the ventricular muscle attached to the chordae tendinaea.
- when ventricles contract so do the papillary muscle the AV valves are held in place + don’t fold back into the atria
After flowing through the body blood enters the heart through the?
Right Atrium
From the _____ _____ blood is pumped through _____ _____ to the _____ _____.
Right Atria
tricuspid valve
Right ventricle.
Right Ventricle Contracts and Ejects Blood out of the heart through the _____ _____ and into the ______ ______
Pulmonary Valve
Pulmonary Artery
What happens to the blood in the lungs
CO2 is removed and oxygen is picked up by the blood
Blood returns through the _______ ______ to the ______ ______
Pulmonary Vein
left atrium
Blood flows from the _____ ____ through the _____ _____ to the ____ ____
left atrium
biscupid valve
left ventricle.
When the _____ _____ contracts blood is ejected from there to the _____ _____ and then the ______ out to the body
left ventricle
aortic valve
aorta
Two Types of Heart cells
Contractile cells
Nodal/Conducting Cells
Contractile Cells
Real muscle cells of the heart.
form most of the walls of the ventricles and atria
contain myofibrils made up of myosin and actin (tropomyosin;troponin), surrounded by SR.
contain 1 nucleus.
1/3 of volume consists of mitochrondria.
efficient in extracting oxygen (80% of O2 passing from the blood)
Shorter branched cells joined by intercalated discs.
Intercalated Discs
- contain tight junctions that bind the cells together
- gap junctions
- allow for the movement of ions + ion currents between the myocardial cells
- because of the gap junctions, the myocardial cells of the heart can conduct APs from cell to cell without the need for nerves.
Nodal/conducting cells
- Similar to nerve cells
- contract very weakly
- contain very few myofibrils
- cells can spontaneously generate action potentials without the help of nervous input like regular neurons (self-excitability)
- they can also rapidly conduct action potentials to atrial and ventricular muscle
- specialized cells provide a self-excitable system for the heart to generate impulses + a transmission system for rapid conduction of impulses throughout the heart.
Can all the cells in the heart generate action potentials?
Yes.
What is the site of origin of action potentials in the heart?
- the SA node
- first area of the heart to spontaneously depolarize producing an AP.
Where is the SA node located?
In the upper posterior wall of the right atrium
The AP travels from the SA node to the ______ muscle causing it to contract
Atrial
The AP travels through the ____ to the ______-______ Node
- Atria
- Atrio-ventricular node
The AP travels from the ____ node the _____ of ___ down the ____ of the heart
- AV node
- Bundle of His
- Apex
From the ____ of ___ up to the _____ ____ which rapidly distribute the action potential to the ______ muscles which contracts the heart
- Bundle of His
- Purkinje Fibers
- Ventrical
Is the speed of conduction of the action potential constant throughout the heart?
- No!
- SA node has the slowest conduction speed
- AP speeds up in the atrial muscle to ensure that the muscles contract simultaneously
- AP and consequently the whole muscle contraction travel from top to bottom
- this ensures blood is forced down into the ventricles.
- AV node slows down the conduction speed to ensure the atria have fully contracted before the. ventricles contract.
- AP is conducted through the bundle of His at a very fast rate
- it is important for the AP to reach the apex of the heart to contract first so that the blood can be forced up and out of through the valves at the top of the ventricle
- purkinje fibers then spread the action potential throughout the ventricular muscles so it contracts from the apex upwards
- fastest rate of conduction
Characteristics responsible for Nodal cell self excitability
- slightly higher Na+ permeability than other cells
- this makes the inside of the cell more positive over time (depolarized)
- Ca++ is also trying to move into the cell.
- Their movement causes the depolarization of the cell.
- The movement of K+ is the main cause of the spontaneous action potential.
- K+ wants to leave the cell (causing a hyperpolarization) but the permeability to K+ decreases over time causing less K+ to leak out.
- The Na+/K+ pump is pumping K+ increasing the number of positive charges in the cell.
- These factors will cause the depolarization of the cell.
Depolarization of the Nodal cell.
- Membrane potential depolarizes to threshold (-40 mV)
- special Ca++ gated channels will open
- Ca++ floods into the cell producing a depolarization
- Ca++ channels close and K+ channels will open releasing K+ ions out of the cell.
- The movement of K+ ions out of the cell will repolarize the membrane to -60 mV