The heart has a natural "back-up" pacemaker that can generate a pulse and control the heart rate.
To say it is a study by the University of Manchester that has identified the Sap (the subsidiary atrial pacemaker) able to take the place of the sinoatrial node, which is the main way in which the heart generates electrical signals that make it beat.
"This study completely reshapes our understanding of how the heart works and is very inspiring," says Halina Dobrzynsky, a researcher who led the work.
The sinoatrial node is a group of cells found in the right atrium wall of the heart that has the ability to spontaneously produce the electrical impulses to make the heart beat.
When it isn't working as it should, your heart rate can slow down, causing breathlessness and fainting.
In the work conducted on animals, which was published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Physiology, it was noted that in the case of surgical ablation of the sinoatrial node, Sap assumes the role of dominant pacemaker, guiding the electrical activity of the heart.
"Before this study, it was thought that the sinoatrial node was the main activation site in the heart - explains Luca Soattin, co-author of the research - When this was missing, it was thought that the atrioventricular node closest to the ventricle would come into operation. Now instead, we know of another site, the subsidiary atrial pacemaker. "