Originally Posted by
Into the Night
A heart CAN pump without a brain. It does not require signals from the brain to pump. However, without a brain, there is no breathing. The heart muscle dies as a result of no oxygen. It pumps useless blood until it dies.
In the womb, of course, the umbilical cord takes place of oxygenating the blood. Therefore, no brain is necessary to pump that blood through the developing body. As long as the mother is breathing, the fetus gets oxygenated blood and no brain is required because breathing is not necessary.
Heart muscle cells will naturally start twitching at regular intervals. If one touches another heart muscle cell, they will synchronize and twitch together. As the heart develops, a few cells take the role of pacemaker and produce the master twitch on their own. This is all you need to make a heart beat. As long as the muscle cells receive oxygen and nourishment, they will continue to beat completely on their own without any brain.
A brain can adjust heartbeat rate, but it is not necessary to make a heart beat.
Bookmarks