Cardiovascular Regulation and Lesions of the Central Nervous System

The central nervous system has an important role in the second-to-second regulation of cardiac activity and vasomotor tone. Central lesions that lead to a disturbance in autonomic activity tend to cause electrocardiographic and pathological evidence of myocardial damage, cardiac arrhythmias, and disturbances of arterial blood pressure regulation. To a great extent such cardiovascular disturbances result from alterations in sympathetic activity. Similar alterations in sympathetic activity can occur under conditions of emotional stress and precipitate cardiac arrhythmias that can themselves lead to the syndrome of sudden death. Experimental and clinical evidence suggests that central neural mechanisms may be involved in this important human syndrome, but no central lesion has yet been identified to account for it. Recent experimental evidence, derived from hypertension research, suggests that chemical disturbances in the central nervous system, without accompanying structural lesions, may be found to explain cardiovascular disturbances such as sudden death and hypertension.