The Heart Has a “Brain”

• in Consciousness · Intuition · Mindful Living

Awareness Begins in the Heart, Not the Brain

Whether religion, literature, or love lyrics, the heart has a long history of being popularly associated with passion, feeling, consciousness, and awareness. But studies within the new field of neurocardiology are beginning to explain the heart’s intimate connection to the brain and the critical role the organ plays in our very sense of self.

Research in the past two decades has shown that the heart is an information processing center that can learn, remember, and act independently of the cranial brain and actually connect and send signals to key brain areas such as the amygdala, thalamus, and hypothalamus, which regulate our perceptions and emotions. It seems we have a second “brain” in our chest. [Source 1]

As a result, the brain-heart connection is steadily being paid more attention throughout academia. In the journal Nature Neuroscience, for example, scientists conducted experiments using functional imaging and a heartbeat detection task to track the psychosomatic link between certain neural systems and the viscera, or internal organs, particulary the heart. The authors conclude that this “interoceptive awareness” contributes yet another layer to the total yet composite experience we call “consciousness.” [Source 2]

There’s also evidence that this “heart brain” can receive and respond to stimuli before the cranial brain processes it, like a split-second “body premonition.” Researchers published a study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine that correlated the heart-rate variability of participants with a “pre-stimulus.” In other words, the study subjects’ heartbeats were intuitively sensing an oncoming change. Essentially, their hearts “felt” the future before it happened. And even though the brain and body as a whole are involved in processing that stimulus, it appears the heart gets there first. [Source 3]

But perhaps the most intriguing research in neurocardiology today is the relation between and reaction of the sensing heart of one individual on another. Studies at the HeartMath Research Center have detected in individuals up to five feet apart that the heart’s electromagnetism—the largest in the body—can affect and even synchronize with another participant’s brain waves. In short, the brain seems to be innately sensitive and receptive to the heart “energy” of others.
[Source 4]

7 Scientific Reasons You Should Listen To Your Heart (Not Your Brain)

How many times have I told a patient that the heart is a muscle whose job is to pump blood 100,000 times a day to all the organs of the body?

Isn’t the heart just a vital (but fairly simple) bag of fleshy fibers? In the 1930s, Dr. Walter Cannon of Harvard Medical School showed that the heart responds to external nerves and hormones to help with a fight or flight response to keep us healthy.

And yet, haven’t we all felt moments when we were sure that joy, love, and appreciation emanated from our hearts?

New research is showing that the heart controls the brain much more than previously thought. I didn't learn these lessons in medical school or subsequent continuing education programs, but they are grounded in science. Some of these observations have profound implications and have led to practical therapies that I'll discuss in Part 2 of this piece.

Let’s look at 7 of the most important new findings about the central role of the heart in controlling the mind:

1. Some researchers refer to the heart as the "little brain."

There are 40,000 sensory neurons relaying information to the brain from the heart, leading researchers to call the heart the “little brain” and to coin the field as neurocardiology.

2. The heart communicates to the brain and the body.

It does so in four ways, via:

• nervous system connections
• hormones produced in the heart itself
• biomechanical information via blood pressure waves
• energetic information from the strong electrical and electromagnetic fields.

The fact that the heart produces hormones released into the blood stream affecting all of the body was first demonstrated 30 years ago and has led to tests routinely performed in hospitals across the country.

3. There is more information sent from the heart to the brain on a daily basis via these four means of communications than vice versa.

Indeed, the neurons within the heart enable the heart to learn, remember, and make decisions independent of the brain's cerebral cortex.

4. The heart emits more electrical activity than the brain.

The heart emits an electrical field 60 times greater in amplitude than the activity in the brain and an electromagnetic field 5,000 times stronger that of the brain.

5. The electromagnetic field of the heart is incredibly strong.

It not only can be measured anywhere on the body (using an EKG with electrodes on the ankles and wrists) but also for several feet outside the body, too.

6. Activity in one person's heart can be measured in the brain waves of another person.

The electromagnetic field of two individuals (human or pet and human), touching or within a few feet of each other, can interact so that energy activity in the heart of one individual is measured in the brain waves of the other. The act of touch for healing therapies can be postulated to be due to this method of communication.

7. The electrical activity of the heart and the brain can be guided into a synchronous electrical rhythm easily measured and displayed by simply focusing on positive and loving emotions emanating from the heart.

This state of organ “coherence” is associated with improved higher level functioning, lower blood pressure and cortisol levels, and improved immune system function.

After 30 years of studying the heart, I am learning that exciting scientific findings are providing a dramatically different understanding of the heart and its relationship with the brain and the human body. The rich neurologic and endocrine structure of the heart make it possible to “train” the heart from acting in a frenzied and disordered manner during stress and anger to working in an optimal manner from lessons of peace, love, and harmony. The implications for education and treatment of clinical disorders, optimizing work performance, and offering students strategies to maximize their satisfaction and achievement are profound and will be covered in part 2 of The Smart Heart. 

    SOURCE                                                                                                                                                              Dr. Kahn is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine and Director of Cardiac Wellness, Michigan Healthcare Professionals PC. He is a graduate Summa Cum Laude of the University of Michigan School of Medicine. He lectures widely on the cardiac benefits of vegan nutrition and mind body practices. He also writes for Readers Digest Magazine as the Holistic Heart Doc and his first book, The Whole Heart Solution, is available for sale now.