Cardiovascular centre is detected by baroreceptors in the aortic sinuses or carotid sinuses, the cardiovascular centre affects changes to the heart rate by sending a nerve impulse to the cardiac pacemaker (or SA node) via sympathetic fibres (to cause faster and stronger cardiac muscle contraction) and the vagus nerve (to cause slower and less strong cardiac muscle contraction). The cardiovascular centre also increases the stroke volume of the heart (that is, the amount of blood it pumps). These two changes help to regulate the cardiac output, so that a sufficient amount of blood reaches tissue. Hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine can affect
Heart a thin layer of connective tissue. The endocardium, by secreting endothelins, may also play a role in regulating the contraction of the myocardium. The middle layer of the heart wall is the myocardium, which is the cardiac muscle – a layer of involuntary striated muscle tissue surrounded by a framework of collagen. The cardiac muscle pattern is elegant and complex, as the muscle cells swirl and spiral around the chambers of the heart, with the outer muscles forming a figure 8 pattern around the atria and around the bases of the great vessels and the inner muscles forming a figure