Skip to main content

Heart's Role In Emotion

 I was intrigued to know the role of the heart, whether it was just limited as pumping station/muscle or has a higher purpose. In the history of evolution, humans are always referred to by their heart e.g., warm-hearted, or cold-hearted person. As we know heart which is one of the most important and vital organs in the body is a muscular organ that is part of the circulatory system and is responsible for pumping blood throughout the body to provide oxygen to the various cells present. But is it just a muscle?


It is scientifically proven that as a response to the feeling of fear, extreme pain, anger, anxiety or a jump scare situation, our heart rhythm pattern become more erratic and often the heart responds to the release of adrenaline by increasing the heart rate. The increase in the heart rate in turn leads to an increase in the blood pressure consequently maximising the blood glucose levels. Blood glucose is primarily sent to the brain (for the purpose for it to react faster) and also redistributed to the muscles in order to fight – flight or freeze expanding the air passages of the lungs for more oxygen into the body and the enlarging the pupil in the eye for increasing the field of vision. These erratic patterns are sent to the emotional centres in the brain, which it perceives as negative or stressful feelings. These signals create the actual feelings we experience in the heart area and the body. The erratic heart rhythms also numbs our ability to think clearly.


The heart also responds to excitement, love, compassion, or appreciation the heart produces different rhythm which creates a feeling of positive emotion by increasing the heart rate in your body just like the flight or fight response. This lets the brain know that the heart feels good and often creates a gentle warm feeling in the area of the heart. Hence, leaving with a feeling to jump up in the air or do a happy dance. 


Every human can relate to pain be it physical or emotional in the form of physical discomfort and sadness. Scientists in the past have reported that any form of pain was always perceived by the brain. But with the new research they have revealed that pain is not only a sensory experience but can also be associated with emotional, cognitive, and social components. Dr. Armour, in 1991, discovered that the heart has its "little brain". This "heart brain" is composed of approximately 40,000 neurons similar to that of the neurons in the brain. It is like, heart has its own nervous system. Also, the communication between the heart and the brain is carried out in many ways like neurological or biochemical. This "heart brain" carries information from the heart and other internal organs to the brain. Signals from the "heart brain" is redirected to the medulla, hypothalamus, thalamus, and amygdala and the cerebral cortex. Therefore, the heart sends more signals to the brain than vice versa. The heart is not just a pump, it has its neural network or "little brain." The methods such as Vagus nerve stimulation and heart-rhythm coherence feedback techniques targeting the heart to modulate pain regions in the brain. These methods seem to modulate the key changes that occur in the brain regions and are involved in the cognitive and emotional factors of pain. Thus, the heart is probably a key moderator of pain.



Research done in the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) explain in a new study “Even though humans are mostly not aware of their heartbeats, several heartbeat-related effects have been reported to influence conscious perception." In experiments, they found that volunteers were less likely to detect subtle electrical pulses during one phase of the heartbeat cycle, called systole.

During systole, the heart muscle contracts, pumping blood into arteries. In the next cycle diastole occurs; the heart relaxes after contracting, and its chambers fills up with blood once more.


This revealed that humans exhibit less somatosensory perception – the sensation of things throughout the body – during systole than during diastole.


The heart is both a receiver of emotions as well as an inducer of emotions. Thus, proving that the heart is not just a muscle that pumps blood throughout the body but also that helps in perceiving the world through the variant colors of emotions.






Bibliography:

“Science of the Heart: Exploring the Role of the Heart in Human Performance” by HeartMath Institute

https://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/heart-brain-communication/

“WHAT IS HEART INTELLIGENCE” by Unicorn light

https://www.unicornenlight.com/what-is-heart-intelligence/

“Pain: Is It All in the Brain or the Heart?” by Pubmed

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31728781/

“How our emotions affect our heart health” by Ann Davis

https://www.eehealth.org/blog/2019/03/emotions-heart-health/#:~:text=Chronic%20stress%20exposes%20your%20body,can%20increase%20heart%20disease%20risk.

“Alternative names for adrenaline” by You and Your Hormones

https://www.yourhormones.info/hormones/adrenaline/#:~:text=Key%20actions%20of%20adrenaline%20include,(primarily%20for%20the%20brain).


Every Single Heartbeat Affects Our Perception of The World, Researchers Find
https://www.sciencealert.com/every-heartbeat-alters-our-perception-of-the-world-study-finds

Does your heart sense your emotional state?
https://www.today.com/health/does-your-heart-sense-your-emotional-state-2D80555354




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Attitude of Openness

  Openness to experience, or just being open, is a fundamental personality trait that indicates your receptiveness to new information, ideas, and experiences. In order to retain newly gained knowledge in our memory, related brain changes need to occur. New connections between neurons and synapses are formed in places such as the amygdala, the hippocampus, the cerebellum, and the prefrontal cortex, which are involved in memory processing. It was once believed that as we aged, the neural networks became more rigid due to insufficient exposure caused by a lack of learning. But in the past two decades, research reveals that the brain never stops changing and adjusting. The capacity of the brain to change with learning is called plasticity. Neuroplasticity is the capacity of neurons and neural networks in the brain to change their connections. Neuroscientist Eleanor Maguire of University College London (U.C.L.) conducted a study on London's taxi drivers who could navigate the smog-fille...
2 comments
Read more

Boredom leads to Addiction

  I n today's world, we often find people, especially teenagers, being addicted to something or the other. It can be as mundane as a food addiction to as serious as drug addiction. I wanted to explore more and understand the reason behind such addictions and their possible connection with boredom. Boredom is broadly defined as the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest. It seems to be a specific mental state that people find unpleasant—a lack of stimulation that leaves them craving for relief, with a host of behavioural, medical and social consequences. Addiction is defined as an inability to control/stop using a substance or engaging in a behaviour/activity even though it is causing psychological and/or physical harm. Boredom and addiction go hand in hand. When someone is bored, it is easier for them to be addicted, leaving them vulnerable. This is because boredom is caused by the lack of external stimuli in the brain. Another reason can be a hormone called se...
1 comment
Read more

The Extent of Positive Influence of Meditation on Aggression in Adolescents

     The time between childhood and adulthood is known as adolescence , which is a time of growth and development. According to the World Health Organization [WHO], an adolescent is anyone between the ages of 10 and 19 years (WHO, 2019). Typically, adolescence is the period between puberty and reproductive maturity. As well as the physical aspects of adolescence, other nations describe it as a period of psychological, social, and moral development. Stereotypes portray teens as rebellious, preoccupied, or reckless (WHO, 2019).           Adolescence is when new, bold, and diverse ideas may significantly influence the imagination (Csikszentmihalyi, 2022). Adolescents have a great capacity for resilience, as shown by their extraordinary capacity to weather crises and draw meaning from unpleasant experiences (Franco et al., 2016). Studies show that teenagers recover from poor moods about half as quickly as adults (Pimple et al., 2014). Despite t...
Post a Comment
Read more