The Heart Brain Connection And You
Give it to me straight from the heart, well it turns out that's exactly what we all naturally do.
For centuries, the heart has been regarded as the source of emotion, courage, and wisdom. What are the physiological mechanisms by which the heart communicates with the brain?
Research in the new discipline of Neurocardiology [The study of the neurophysiological, neurological and neuroanatomical aspects of cardiology, and the effects of stress on the heart in terms of the heart's interactions with both the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system] shows that the heart is a sensory organ and a sophisticated hub for receiving and processing information. The nervous system inside the heart (or “heart brain”) enables it to learn, remember, and make functional decisions independent of the brain’s cerebral cortex.
Various experiments have shown that the signals the heart continuously sends to the brain influence the role of essential brain centers required in perception, cognition, and emotional processing.
In addition to the widespread neural communication network associating the heart with the brain and body, the heart also communicates information to the brain and throughout the body via electromagnetic field interactions.
The heart creates the body’s most powerful and most extensive rhythmic electromagnetic field. Compared to the electromagnetic field produced by the brain, the electrical component of the heart’s field is about 60 times greater in amplitude and saturates every cell in the body. The magnetic component is approximately 5000 times stronger than the brain’s magnetic field and can be detected several feet away from the body with fine-tuned magnetometers.
Research at the Institute of HeartMath shows that information concerning a person’s emotional state is also communicated throughout the body via the heart’s electromagnetic field. The rhythmic beating patterns of the heart change significantly as we experience different emotions.
Negative emotions, such as anger or frustration, are associated with an erratic, disordered, incoherent pattern in the heart’s rhythms. In contrast, positive emotions, such as love or appreciation, are associated with a smooth, ordered, coherent pattern in the heart’s rhythmic activity. In turn, these changes in the heart’s beating patterns create corresponding changes in the structure of the electromagnetic field radiated by the heart, measurable by a technique called spectral analysis.
Why do people experience the feeling or sensation of love and other positive emotional states in the area of the heart and what are the physiological ramifications of these emotions?
It has been proven that negative emotions lead to increased disorder in the heart’s rhythms and in the autonomic nervous system, thereby adversely affecting the rest of the body. In opposition, positive emotions create increased harmony and unity in heart rhythms and improve balance in the nervous system.
The health implications are easy to understand: Disharmony in the nervous system leads to inefficiency and increased stress on the heart and other organs while harmonious rhythms are more efficient and less stressful to the body’s systems.
There is also research being done at this point to show that making a heart-brain connection at least once a day may lead to anti-aging signs and symptoms, longer life, with a slowing effect on the aging rate of all cells in the body.
Listen to your heart.
What you will come to find is that the heart profoundly influences the way we perceive and respond to the world. The heart can affect intelligence and awareness.
