Howdy-hi, Bryan!
In medicalese, a slow pulse rate is known as "bradycardia." Like many
other cardiovascular phenomena, it may be hereditary, although
heredity is not the sole cause in all cases.
"Previous studies using a (multigenerational) family or twin design
have already shown that genetic factors play a pivotal role in
determining individual differences in leisure time physical activity.
Likewise, significant genetic influences are apparent for RSA and
heart rate."
Genetic Correlation of Exercise with Heart Rate and Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia
http://www.psychosomatic.org/events/2003_MSSE_DeGeus_GeneticCorrelation_Exercise_RSA.pdf
Dr. Neal Pinckney posted this on a health-related messageboard:
"A low pulse rate can be the result of many different things, among
them certain medications, genetic tendency, medical or physical
condition and history."
Healing Heart Foundation
http://www.vegsource.com/healingheart/messages/96494.html
"The cardiovascular reaction to a repeated psychological stressor (the
Stroop test) of trained and untrained individuals was studied by
Boutcher and Nugent (1993). They concluded that within the group of
trained individuals the absolute values of heart rate, under
conditions of psychological stress, are lower than in the untrained
group. In the following research using the Stroop test, Boutcher et
al. (1995) found significantly lower values of the heart rate in
people suffering from hereditary bradycardia than in the control
group."
THE STROOP COLOUR-WORD TEST IN PSYCHOLOGY AND BIOMEDICINE
http://publib.upol.cz/~obd/fulltext/Gymnica32-1/gymnica32-1_6.pdf
Please don't let the phrase "suffering from hereditary bradycardia"
alarm you. Although bradycardia can cause problems in some, a slow
pulse is not always a bad thing; for instance, as you've mentioned, it
can provide a competitive advantage for athletes.
Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "slow OR low pulse" OR bradycardia genetic OR hereditary
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22slow+OR+low+pulse%22+OR+bradycardia+genetic+OR+hereditary
I wish I could have sparked this answer with a bit of excitement to
get that pulse racing, but there is a limit to what can be done with
the subject matter. It's rather a snoozer. I speculate that the name
"bradycardia" comes from an extremely boring American television show
of the late 1960s, "The Brady Bunch." Few pulses failed to lag while
watching that one, I daresay.
Best,
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