Key result
Experimental diving in snakes cuts heart rate ~85%, driven primarily by prolonged diastole.
Population
Snakes (Tropidonotus natrix)
Comparison
Experimental diving and exposure to increased… vs Prediving baseline
Design
Preclinical
Authors
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No direct implications for human care; hypothesis-generating for CO2-driven bradycardia mechanisms in vertebrates.
Experimental diving in snakes causes profound bradycardia and specific ECG changes, which appear to be driven by increased CO2 concentrations.
Kjell Johansen (1959) studied this question. Experimental diving vs. Prediving baseline was evaluated on Heart rate and electrocardiographic changes. Experimental diving in snakes reduced heart rate by about 85%, primarily through a 30-fold prolongation of diastole, and caused pronounced T-wave amplitude shifts.
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