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Vagal entrainment of heart rate is simulated by an integrator with feedback
A R Bath1, S L Cloherty, S Dokos
1Biomedical Systems Laboratory, School of Electrical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Abstract:
Paradoxical stable entrainment of heart rate to inhibitory vagal impulses can be simulated with two distinct mathematical models; a complex ionic current model of sinoatrial node pacemaker activity, as well as a simple integrator with non-linear feedback. We show that both models exhibit similar entrainment characteristics to repetitive vagal stimuli. By applying a sharp disturbance to each model whilst entrained, the subsequent path of cycle length recovery can be described by dynamic phase response curves and phase-phase plots, the properties of which dictate whether stable entrainment is possible.