Which term describes how the heart beats via its own conduction system?

• A. Movement of blood
• B. Neural Control Mechanism
• C. Cardiac Conduction System
• D. Systole

Answer: (C)

The heart’s regular beating is produced by its own electrical wiring—the cardiac conduction system. This network of pacemaker and conducting tissues generates and rapidly conducts impulses to coordinate timing: the SA node sets the pace, impulses travel to the atrioventricular node and down through the bundle of His and Purkinje fibers to trigger atrial then ventricular contractions. This intrinsic system allows the heart to beat in a synchronized rhythm without requiring the brain to fire each beat. The other ideas aren’t describing this electrical coordination: movement of blood is the result of contraction, neural control refers to external regulation by the nervous system, and systole is just the contraction phase, not the conduction pathway itself.