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The heart — one example journey.

A learning map is not a library shelf. Each point on the map has a short explanation, a source, a check, and a way to bring the topic to the Common Table. Open the steps in order — or jump around.

Level

Only "Foundations" is filled in for this demo. Other levels reuse the same map structure with deeper content.

1. Foundation — what the heart is and doesexplanation

   The heart is a muscular pump with four chambers: two atria on top, two ventricles below. It drives two circuits at once — the pulmonary circuit sends blood to the lungs to pick up oxygen, the systemic circuit sends oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body.

   The beat starts electrically in the sinoatrial (SA) node, the natural pacemaker, and travels through the atrioventricular (AV) node to the ventricles. How much blood the heart moves per minute is the cardiac output: heart rate × stroke volume.

   Mark as done
2. Deeper — how it goes wrongexplanation

   Ischemia means the blood supply to heart muscle is not enough for its demand, most often because a coronary artery is narrowed. Heart failure means the heart cannot pump enough to meet the body's needs; breathlessness and fluid retention are typical consequences. An arrhythmia is an abnormal rhythm — the electrical timing, not the pump itself, is disturbed.

   These three ideas — supply, pump, rhythm — are the frame most later cardiology topics hang on.

   Mark as done
3. Source — where this comes fromsource

   Every explanation on the map points at an identifiable source. For this demo the source is a public-domain classic:

   Gray, H. — Anatomy of the Human Body, 20th edition (1918), section "The Heart". Public domain. Library entry: see Library.

   The explanation above is a modern, simplified paraphrase written for this prototype — it is not the book's text. The book stays the book.

   Open the library entryMark as done
4. Quiz — three quick questionsself-check

   1. How many chambers does the human heart have?

   Two Three Four

   2. Where does the normal heartbeat originate?

   The AV node The SA node The bundle of His

   3. Cardiac output equals…

   Heart rate × stroke volume Heart rate + stroke volume Stroke volume ÷ heart rate

   Self-check only. Nothing is scored, stored or reported — this is not an assessment.

   Mark as done
5. Common Table — discuss a teaching caseask

   A fictional teaching case, written for this prototype: a 58-year-old describes chest tightness when climbing stairs that eases with rest. At the Common Table, Nova and Cortex would not "diagnose" — they would discuss which questions a clinician asks next, which findings would change the picture, and where they disagree.

   The Common Table demo currently runs on general topics; a medical topic follows exactly the same flow (what → with whom → watch / result).

   Open the Common Table demo ↗Mark as done
6. Check understanding — flashcardsself-check

   Tap a card to flip it.

   SystoleThe contraction phase — the ventricles eject blood.tap to flip DiastoleThe relaxation phase — the chambers fill with blood.tap to flip Stroke volumeThe amount of blood ejected by a ventricle per beat.tap to flip

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7. Next topic — where the map goes from herenext

   The full map continues: Heart → circulation → pathology → diagnosis → therapy. Each next point repeats the same rhythm — short explanation, source, self-check, table, next — at the level you chose.

   In this demo the map stops here. In the real product, "next" would be a real, connected topic.

   Mark as done