2006 Heart-Brain summit proceedings
Cortical control of the heart
ARTICLE INTRODUCTION
Neuraxial organization of cardiac control can be considered as a series of hierarchically organized oscillatory networks. Some of the oscillatory activity is determined by intrinsic characteristics of the cells themselves, but it may also be related to neural networks that are either situated inside or distributed between specific brain nuclei. The functional rationale for such hierarchical organization is unclear, but this probably permits integration between cardiac neural regulatory elements and extraceptive and intraceptive perceptions, allowing for contextually appropriate response patterning.
The anatomic locations involved in cardiac regulation extend from the spinal cord to the cortex itself.
At the cortical level, the insula has received the most recent attention and this will be the major focus of
this article.
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