Ask A Scientist© Zoology Archive

name         Susie C.
status       student
age          10

Question -   What causes the heart to beat?

Because of chemical reactions that occur in the body, you produce very small
amounts of electrical energy.  This electrical energy sends a message to your
heart and makes it beat.  There is a patch of cells in the upper right
chamber of your heart called the "pacemaker" that first gets the electrical
signal and then sends the signal on to the rest of the parts of the heart.
There are parts in your brain that can control how FAST or SLOW your heart
beats, but for normal, everyday beating, the pacemaker keeps your heart
going.  Some people have a bad pacemaker and need to get an artificial one.

van hoeck
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