The Thinking Heart: 12 June 2009 By Steven James Ant's may not strike you as the representation of wisdom. Their brains have only 10,000 neurons, nevertheless they are noted for their problem solving abilities. They construct complex dwellings using tools, their society is intricate with a caste system, additionally they know of war and politics. Ants developed agriculture millions of years before humans, and communicate elaborate information through diverse means (sound, smell, body language). In short, 10,000 neurons is enough for the operation of a complicated society. Now consider this, there are 40,000 neurons in human heart. That is more than sufficient to make a brain. If an ant brain possesses the capacity for almost 50 million neural connections, your heart brain has close to 800 million. No surprise that the ‘heart’s brain’ is a system so sophisticated, that it is able to sense, learn and recollect. Because evidently, our heart actually stores its own memories. Additionally, it may very well be involved in dreaming activity. Our ‘two brains’ are in constant communication and they clearly affect each other. For example, stress coming through the brain may affect your cardiac rhythm, but it is also true the other way around. Some information may be perceived through the heart, and only then communicated to the brain. For ages, the heart has been considered the cradle of emotion, courage and wisdom. At the Institute of HeartMath (IHM) Research Center, they are investigating the physiological mechanisms by which the heart communicates with the brain, thereby influencing information processing, perceptions, emotions and well-being. Some of the first contemporary psychophysiological researchers to examine the conversations between the heart and brain were John and Beatrice Lacey. During 20 years of research throughout the 1960s and ’70s, they determined that the heart communicates with the brain in ways that significantly affect how we perceive and respond to the world. A generation before the Laceys began their research, Walter Cannon had shown that deviation in emotions are accompanied with predictable changes in heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and digestion. In Cannon’s view, when we are "aroused", the mobilizing part of the nervous system (sympathetic) energizes us for fight or flight, and in more placid moments, the calming part of the nervous system (parasympathetic) calms us down. In this view, it was presumed that the autonomic nervous system and all the physiological responses moved in concert with the brain’s reaction to a given stimulus. Presumably, our inner systems tooled up together when we were aroused and simmered down together when we were at rest, and the brain was in control of the entire process. The Laceys noticed that this simple model only partially matched actual physiological behavior. As their investigation evolved, they found that the heart seemed to have its own peculiar logic that frequently diverged from the direction of the autonomic nervous system. The heart appeared to be sending significant messages to the brain that it not only comprehended, but obeyed. Even more intriguing was that it looked as though these messages could affect a person’s conduct. Shortly after this, neurophysiologists discovered a neural pathway and mechanism whereby input from the heart to the brain could "inhibit" or "mitigate" the brain’s electrical activity. Then in 1974, the French researchers Gahery and Vigier, working with cats, stimulated the vagus nerve and determined that the brain’s electrical response was reduced to about half its normal rate. In summary, evidence alluded that the heart and nervous system was not simply following the brain’s directions, as Cannon had theorized. While the Laceys were conducting their research in psychophysiology, a small group of cardiovascular researchers joined with a similar band of neurophysiologists to explore areas of mutual curiosity. This represented the conception of the new discipline of neurocardiology, which has since contributed critically important insights into the nervous system within the heart and how the brain and heart communicate with each other via the nervous system. After extensive research, one emerging trailblazer in neurocardiology, Dr. J. Andrew Armour, introduced the concept of a functional "heart brain" in 1991. His work revealed that the heart has a perplexing 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 numerous forms of neurons, neurotransmitters, proteins and support cells like those identified in the brain proper. Its elaborate circuitry empowers it to act independently of the cranial brain to comprehend, remember, and sense. The recent book Neurocardiology, edited by Dr. Armour and Dr. Jeffrey Ardell, provides a comprehensive overview of the function of the heart’s intrinsic nervous system and the role of central and peripheral autonomic neurons in the regulation of cardiac function. Page 1 of 3 Create PfiDleF: /f/ilDes: \wHiathroducto trheisI nmveessstmageen btsy. cpoumrc.hhatsminlg novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) 6/20/2009The heart’s nervous system contains around 40,000 neurons, called sensory neurites, which detect circulating hormones and neurochemicals and sense heart rate and pressure details. Hormonal, chemical, rate and pressure information is translated into neurological stimuli by the heart’s nervous system and sent from the heart to the brain through several afferent (flowing to the brain) pathways. It is also through these nerve pathways that pain signals and other feeling sensations are conveyed to the brain. These afferent nerve pathways access the brain in an area called the medulla, located in the brain stem. The signals have a regulatory role over many of the autonomic nervous system signals that flow out of the brain to the heart, blood vessels and other glands and organs. Furthermore, they also cascade up into the higher centers of the brain, where they may sway perception, decision making and other cognitive processes. Dr. Armour describes the brain and nervous system as a distributed parallel processing system consisting of separate but interacting groups of neuronal processing intersections dispersed throughout the body. The heart has its own intrinsic nervous system that operates and processes information independently of the brain or nervous system. This is what enables a heart transplant to work: Normally, the heart communicates with the brain via nerve fibers running through the vagus nerve and the spinal column. In a heart transplant, these nerve connections do not reconnect for a prolonged period of time, if at all. Nevertheless, the transplanted heart is able to function in its new host through the capacity of its intact, intrinsic nervous system. This then brings up the concept of Cellular Memory in Organ Transplants, and the ethics of these transplants. Leslie Takeuchi, BA, PTA, has taken a closer look at this relationship of mind and matter, body and emotions, for keys to how people heal. In this search, he looked into theories of emotions or memories being somehow stored in the tissues of the body and later appearing in the physical form of pain or disease. What was most striking were the abundant reports of organ transplant recipients who later experienced deviations in personality traits, tastes for food, music, activities and even sexual preference. It now seems plausible that our memories reside deep inside our bodily cells besides in our minds. Current understandings about memory, for instance, place this mental capacity solely as a function of the brain. However, the process of memory may be too intricate to be explained by measuring brain activity through electroencephalograms or oxygen uptake as recorded on PET scans. Looking at memory as part of the quantum world of sub atomic systems, gives the visual image of tiny particles zipping around every which way until there is a need for them to come together into some sort of pattern of awareness. Yet, where do the memories reside. Candace Pert, author of Molecules of Emotion. Why You Feel the Way You Feel, says, Memories are stored not only in the brain, but in a psychosomatic network extending into the body and all the way out along pathways to core organs and the very surface of our dermis. After having discovered neuropeptides in all body tissues, Pert suggests that through cellular receptors, thoughts or memories may remain unconscious or can become responsive raising the possibility of physiological connections among memories, organs and the mind. University of Arizona scientists and co authors of The Living Energy Universe, Gary Schwartz, Ph.D., and Linda Russek, Ph.D., propose the universal living memory hypothesis in which they declare that "all systems stored energy dynamically and this information continued as a living, evolving system after the physical structure had deconstructed". Schwartz and Russek believe this may explain how the information and energy from the memory transfer can be residing, consciously or unconsciously, in the recipient. Paul Pearsall, MD, a psychoneuroimmunologist and author of The Heart's Code, has investigated the transference of memories through organ transplantation. After interviewing about 150 heart and other organ transplant recipients, Pearsall conceives the belief cells of living tissue have the capacity to remember. Together with Schwartz and Russek, Pearsall conducted a study, published in the Spring 2002 issue of the Journal of Near Death Studies, entitled, "Changes in Heart Transplant Recipients That Parallel the Personalities of Their benefactors". The study consisted of open ended interviews with ten heart or heart lung transplant recipients, their families or friends and the donor's families or friends. The researchers chronicled striking parallels in each of the cases. The following is a sampling of some these. In one case, a 18 year old boy who wrote poetry, played music and composed songs, was killed in an automobile accident. A year after he died his parents came across an audiotape of a song he had composed, entitled, "Danny, My Heart is Yours", which was about how he "felt he was destined to pass away and give his heart to someone". The benefactor recipient "Danny" of his heart, was a 18 year old girl, named Danielle. When she met the donor parents, they played some of his music and she, despite never having heard the song, was able to complete the phrases. In another case, a seven month old boy acquired a heart from a 16 month old boy who had drowned. The benefactor had a mild form of cerebral palsy mostly on the left side. The recipient, who did not display such symptoms before the transplant, developed the same stiffness and shaking on the left side. A 47 year old Caucasian male received a heart from a 17 year old African American male. The recipient was surprised by his new found love of classical music. What he discovered later was that the benefactor, who loved classical music and played the violin, had died in a drive by shooting, clutching his violin case to his chest. A 29 year old lesbian and a fast food junkie received a heart from a 19 year old woman vegetarian who was "man crazy". The recipient reported after her operation that meat made her ill and she was no longer attracted to women. In fact, she became engaged to marry a man. Page 2 of 3 Create PfiDleF: /f/ilDes: \wHiathroducto trheisI nmveessstmageen btsy. cpoumrc.hhatsminlg novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) 6/20/2009A 47 year old man received a heart from a 14 year old girl gymnast who had problems with eating disorders. After the transplant, the recipient and his family reported his affinity to be nauseated after eating, a youthful exuberance and a little girl's giggle. Aside from those involved in the study, there are other transplant recipients whose stories are worth mentioning, such as Claire Sylvia, a woman who received a heart lung transplant. In her book entitled, A Change of Heart. A Memoir, Ms. Sylvia chronicles her own journey from being a healthy, active dancer to becoming ill and eventually needing a heart transplant. After the operation, she reported peculiar changes like cravings for beer and chicken nuggets, neither of which she had a taste for preceding the transplant. She later discovered that these were favorites of her donor. She evened learned that her benefactor had the chicken nuggets in his jacket pocket when he died in a motorcycle accident. Another feasible incidence of memory transfer occurred when a young man came out of his transplant surgery and said to his mother, "everything is copasetic". His mother remarked that he had never used that word before, but now used it all the time. It was later discovered that the word had been a signal, used by the benefactor and his wife, especially after an argument, so that when they made up they knew everything was okay. The donor's wife reported that they had an argument just before the donor's fatal accident and had never made up. Another astonishing account, reported by Pearsall, is that of an eight year old girl who received the heart of a ten year old girl who had been murdered. After the transplant, the recipient had horrifying nightmares of a man murdering her benefactor. The dreams were so traumatic that psychiatric help was sought. The girl's nightmares were so specific that the psychiatrist and the mother notified the police. According to the psychiatrist, "using the description from the little girl, they found the murderer. He was easily convicted with the evidence the patient provided. The time, weapon, place, clothes he wore, what the little girl he killed had said to him. Everything the little heart transplant recipient had reported was entirely accurate". Although medical science is not yet ready to embrace the ideas of cellular memory, one surgeon believes there must be something to it. Mehmet Oz, MD, heart surgeon at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, has invited an energy healer, Julie Motz, into the operating room during transplant surgery. Initially, Motz practiced energy healing to help reduce anxiety before surgery and depression ensuing surgery. Then the team noticed that there seemed to be less incidence of rejection in these patients. They were curious to see what would happen if she were present throughout the operation. Motz registers, through sensations in her own body, the emotional state of the patient during the surgical procedure. Through her touch or words, Motz tries to alleviate any worries, fears or anger the patient may be experiencing. She works with the recipient's ability to accept the new organ and also works with the donated tissue so it will accept a new body. The results have been favorable, and the team reports reduced rejection and increased survival rates. This may sound outrageous to those who never speculated about tissues having feelings or caring about where they would reside, but Dr. Oz concludes that it would be a disservice to ignore even the possibility that this method could help. More studies are being conducted regarding the phenomenon of organ recipient and benefactor coincidences. Pearsall, Schwartz and Russek report that, research is underway at the University of Arizona on a sample of more than 300 transplant patients to determine the incidence of such transcendent memory phenomena using semi structured interviews and systematic queries. And should these reported changes in behavior and personality be proved, the morality of organ transplants must come into question, after all the mechanical heart is missing 40,000 neurons, and pigs hearts could carry the memories of their lives in the pig pen. Additionally does the human soul move on if the benefactors memories continue Page 3 of 3 Create PfiDleF: /f/ilDes: \wHiathroducto trheisI nmveessstmageen btsy. cpoumrc.hhatsminlg novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) 6/20/2009