Cardiac vagus and exercise in health and disease (renewal)
BHF-funded researchers at University College London are studying the connection between our brain and heart, and how activity through this connection declines in heart disease. Specialised nerves connect our brain to our heart. These nerves allow the brain to receive information about how hard the heart is working and to send commands to control the heart rate. The fitter we are, the better this connection works. But when heart disease develops, the activity of this connection declines and the heart is unable to rapidly respond to the demands of the body. However, there are currently many gaps in our understanding of this connection. We don’t know how exercise improves the brain-heart connection, or how disease causes its decline. It’s also unclear just how these nerves act on the heart, or whether it would be possible to improve heart function by mimicking the action of exercise on the nerves. These researchers aim to uncover the biology that underlies changes – both good and bad – in the brain-heart connection, brought on by exercise training and heart disease. In the future, they hope that we may be able to enhance the brain’s control of the heart to improve the physical fitness and quality of life of people with heart and circulatory diseases.
Project details
| Grant amount | £1,105,302 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Chairs & Programme Grants |
| Application type | Programme Grant |
| Start Date | 01 January 1900 |
| Duration | 5 years |
| Reference | RG/19/5/34463 |
| Status | In Progress |
