Evidence from cardiovascular research has indicated that the nervous system plays a major functional role in the control of cardiac performance. Specific investigations have shown that individual peripheral cardiac nerves project to relatively circumscribed regions of the myocardium and may substantially influence specific cardiac parameters. The cardiovascular adjustments that occur in conscious animals exposed to behavioral stress have been demonstrated to be a consequence of alterations in neural activity to the heart. However, the influence of specific cardiac innervations on stress-induced cardiac changes has not been investigated. The objective of the proposed research is to describe the role of specific peripheral cardiac nerves in the control of cardiac function during controlled behavioral stress. This will be accomplished by studying animals during stressful behavioral tasks in combination with selective pharmacological or surgical denervation of the cardiac innervations. It is believed that through this strategy it is possible to gain a better understanding of neural control of the heart and stress-induced pathophysiological states.