Logo of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

Mathematical Modelling and Data Analysis

Department 8.4

Publication single view

Article

Title: Supernormal conduction in cardiac tissue promotes concordant alternans and action potential bunching
Author(s): B. Echebarria, G. Röder, H. Engel, J. Davidsen and M. Bär
Journal: Phys. Rev. E
Year: 2011
Volume: 83
Issue: 4 Pt 1
Pages: 040902
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.83.040902
ISSN: 1550-2376
Web URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21599107
Keywords: Action Potentials,Action Potentials: physiology,Animals,Biological Clocks,Biological Clocks: physiology,Cardiovascular,Computer Simulation,Heart Conduction System,Heart Conduction System: physiology,Humans,Models
Tags: 8.41, Herz
Abstract: Supernormal conduction (SNC) in excitable cardiac tissue refers to an increase of pulse (or action potential) velocity with decreasing distance to the preceding pulse. Here we employ a simple ionic model to study the effect of SNC on the propagation of action potentials (APs) and the phenomenology of alternans in excitable cardiac tissue. We use bifurcation analysis and simulations to study attraction between propagating APs caused by SNC that leads to AP pairs and bunching. It is shown that SNC stabilizes concordant alternans in arbitrarily long paced one-dimensional cables. As a consequence, spiral waves in two-dimensional tissue simulations exhibit straight nodal lines for SNC in contrast to spiraling ones in the case of normal conduction.

Back to the list view