The Heart, Mind And Spirit

Brain vs. Heart !
Brain is the master ????
Well, you must rethink !!

- The brain in the heart !!
- the concept of functional ‘heart brain’.
- the heart can act independently of the cranial brain, can learn, remember, and even feel and sense.
- in a heart transplant, nerve connections do not reconnect for an extended period of time; in the meantime, how the transplanted heart is able to function in its new host without nervous connections ??
''''
After extensive research, Armour (1994) introduced the concept of functional ‘heart brain’. His work revealed that the heart has a complex intrinsic nervous system that is sufficiently sophisticated to qualify as a ‘little brain’ in its own right. The heart’s brain is an intricate network of several types of neurons, neurotransmitters, proteins and support cells similar to those found in the brain proper. Its elaborate circuitry enables it to act independently of the cranial brain – to learn, remember, and even feel and sense. The heart’s nervous system contains around 40,000 neurons, called sensory neurites (Armour, 1991). Information from the heart - including feeling sensations - is sent to the brain through several afferents. These afferent nerve pathways enter the brain at the area of the medulla, and cascade up into the higher centres of the brain, where they may influence perception, decision making and other cognitive processes (Armour, 2004). Thus, it was revealed that the heart has its own intrinsic nervous system that operates and processes information independently of the brain or nervous system. This is what allows a heart transplant to work. Normally, the heart communicates with the brain via nerve fibres running through the vagus nerve and the spinal column. In a heart transplant, these nerve connections do not reconnect for an extended period of time; in the meantime, the transplanted heart is able to function in its new host only through the capacity of its intact, intrinsic nervous system (Murphy, et al, 2000)


The Heart, Mind And Spirit ; http://tinyurl.com/bwozklp
Professor Mohamed Omar Salem, Royal College Of Psychiatrists