This ability is thanks to the intrinsic conduction system, which is defined as the internal regulating system that causes the heart to contract rhythmically.
And what we found was that stimuli that occurred during heart's contraction were perceived to last shorter than stimuli that occurred between the beats, when the heart was relaxed.
However because calcium is also involved in cardiac myocyte contraction, these agents also reduce contractility of the heart and should not be used in case of systolic heart failures.