Question at position 62 True or False: Stimulation of alpha-1 receptors on the heart will result in an increased heart rate.TrueFalse

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question asks to evaluate whether stimulating alpha-1 receptors on the heart will increase heart rate.
Option True: If alpha-1 receptors were on cardiac tissue to drive heart rate up, we would expect a direct chronotropic effect. In reality, alpha-1 receptors are predominantly located on vascular smooth muscle. Their activation causes vasoconstriction, increasing systemic vascular resistance and blood pressure rather than directly increasing heart rate. Any change in heart rate would more likely be a reflex response to the rise in blood pressure (baroreceptor reflex), which often leads to a compensatory decrease in heart rate rather than an increase. Therefore, this option misstates the primary cardiac effect of alpha-1 stimulation.
Option False: This aligns with physiology showing that alpha-1 receptor activation mainly causes vasoconstriction and increased afterload, with little to no direct tachycardic effect on the heart. The heart’s rate is more strongly influenced by beta-1 receptor activity (increasing rate) and by autonomic reflexes following vascular changes, which typically do not produce a straightforward increase in heart rate from alpha-1 stimulation alone. Thus, there is no direct mechanism by which alpha-1 stimulation on the heart would reliably increase heart rate.
Additional nuance: If a patient experiences a rapid rise in blood pressure due to alpha-1-mediated vasoconstriction, compensatory mechanisms may produce variable heart rate changes, but the primary direct effect is not an increased heart rate. The question’s statement oversimplifies receptor distribution and action by implying a direct positive chronotropic effect from alpha-1 activation on cardiac tissue.

Question at position 62 True or False: Stimulation of alpha-1 receptors on the heart will result in an increased heart rate.TrueFalse

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