title: Mechanisms of cardiac conduction: a history of revisions.
abstract: Cardiac conduction is the process by which electrical excitation spreads through the heart, triggering individual myocytes to contract in synchrony. Defects in conduction disrupt synchronous activation and are associated with life-threatening arrhythmias in many pathologies. Therefore, it is scarcely surprising that this phenomenon continues to be the subject of active scientific inquiry. Here we provide a brief review of how the conceptual understanding of conduction has evolved over the last century and highlight recent, potentially paradigm-shifting developments.
authors.affiliation: Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, and Center for Heart and Regenerative Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic University, Roanoke, Virginia; and.
authors.forename: Rengasayee
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Veeraraghavan
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Gourdie
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Poelzing
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology / Q000266:history* / Q000503:physiopathology; D056966:Excitation Contraction Coupling; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D009200:Myocardial Contraction
keywords: cardiac conduction; ephaptic coupling; gap junctions; modeling; myocardium