What are junctional fibers?

Answer 1

On the Net, you can find different things being said about the cardiac "junctional fibers". I am going to offer what I understand makes the most sense.

The junctional fibers are cardiac muscle cells which are specialized for slowing down the cardiac impulse just before it goes into the atrioventricular node. This delay gives the atria time to empty their blood into the ventricles before the cardiac impulse goes on to stimulate the ventricles to contract.

Notes:

(1) These junctional fibers are not nerve cells, but are muscle cells which are specialized for conducting the cardiac impulse. You may know how more-narrow nerve axons are slower at passing on an action potential, while wider axons can pass on an action potential faster. Well, these junctional fibers are like nerve fibers, in this way > because these junctional fibers are very narrow, they can slow down the cardiac impulse.

(2) So, where do you think these narrow junctional fibers need to be, in order to slow down the cardiac impulse at the right place and time? If the cardiac impulse were to go from the atria right on to to the ventricles, then the ventricles would be stimulated to contract while the atria were still trying to empty blood into the ventricles. And so, the ventricular blood pressure would be pushing back against the blood that was trying to get from the atria into the ventricles. This would not be good. So . . . the heart needs to slow that impulse, just after it leaves the atria . . . slowing it long enough so the ventricles stay relaxed while they receive blood from the atria.

(3) And, lo and behold . . . the junctional fibers are located right after the atria; and they receive the impulse which comes from the atrial muscles; then it delays the impulse before letting it go into the atrioventricular node. This slow-down gives the atrial muscles just enough time to finish contracting before the atrioventricular node sends on the cardiac impulse to stimulate the ventricles to contract.

(4) You might notice on an EKG how there is the P wave showing atrial depolarization. Then the line goes flat for a little bit before the QRS complex. At the beginning of that flat time at the end of the atrial depolarization, this is where the junctional fibers are slowing down the cardiac impulse before it shows as the QRS which shows the impulse being fired by the atrioventricular node to the ventricles, I understand.