Heart rate node, where the faster pacemaker cells driving the self-generated rhythmic firing and responsible for the heart's autorhythmicity are located. For endurance athletes at the elite level, it is not unusual to have a resting heart rate between 33 and 50 bpm. The "maximum heart rate" (HR) is the highest heart rate an individual can achieve without severe problems through exercise stress, and generally decreases with age. Since HR varies by individual, the most accurate way of measuring any single person's HR is via a cardiac stress test. In this test, a person is subjected to controlled physiologic stress (generally by
Purkinje fibers the nucleus causes Purkinje fibers to appear, on a slide, lighter and larger than their neighbors, arranged along the longitudinal direction (parallel to the cardiac vector). They are often binucleated cells. Heart rate is governed by many influences from the autonomic nervous system. The Purkinje fibres do not have any known role in setting heart rate unless the SA node is compromised. They are influenced by electrical discharge from the sinoatrial node. During the ventricular contraction portion of the cardiac cycle, the Purkinje fibres carry the contraction impulse from both the left and right bundle branch to the myocardium of