NURSING ANM AND GNM

Detailed explanation-1: -Role of pacemaker cells: All cardiac muscle and some smooth muscle will contract without nerve input because these muscles contain pacemaker cells. The pacemaker cells fire APs simultaneously, and this stimulates the other cells, the contractile cells (that do not have pacemaker potentials ), to contract.

Detailed explanation-2: -The pacemaker activity of a cell can be defined as its ability to spontaneously and cyclically generate an electric signal. To achieve this, the membrane potential of the SAN cell needs to slowly depolarize to a threshold, which is a specific voltage required for the generation of an AP.

Detailed explanation-3: -Contractile cells are involved in muscular contractions in the process of pumping blood, while pacemaker cells are involved in creating rhythmic impulses that set the pace for the heart during the blood pumping process. So, this is the key difference between contractile cell and pacemaker cell.