Figure 2.

A simplified diagram interpreting the role of sympathetic and parasympathetic components of CANS in AF. Sympathetic stimulation leads to focal ectopic firing via enhanced automaticity, EADs and DADs. While vagal stimulation facilitates the maintenance of reentry by shortening the atrial ERP. And then AF can result from focal or re‐entrant mechanisms. AF, atrial fibrillation; CANS, cardiac autonomic nerve system; DADs, delayed afterdepolarizations; EADs, early afterdepolarizations; ERP, effective refractory period; up arrow: increase; down arrow: decrease