Learned control of cardiac rate and cardiac conduction in the Wolff Parkinson White syndrome

A patient with Type A Wolff Parkinson White syndrome (WPW) was trained to control heart rate. The patient was then trained to increase and decrease both normal conduction and WPW conduction. Pharmacologic studies performed to delineate the mechanism used by this patient to modify conduction revealed that vagal blockade with atropine produced normal conduction while increased vagal tone favored WPW conduction. This study describes the ability of a patient to learn to modify heart rate and cardiac conduction independently.