A Note on Warner's Vagus Heart Rate Control Model

In the situation of a constant vagus impulse rate, Warner's model for vagal stimulation heart rate (HR) control is a linear differential equation. The particular constants in the Warner model that may be explicitly computed from the experimental data and the sensitivity of the simulation of Warner's model to variations in these parameters are determined. The performance of the Warner model and that of a first-order differential equation model are compared with each other and with experimental data. On the basis of this study, it is concluded that Warner's published experimental data are more supportive of a first-order differential equation model for vagal heart control than it is of a second-order model.