The Heart in Ancient Wisdom at Intersection with Modern Cardiac Sciences, Part IV

Heart art collage by Benedikt Just

Physiological correlates of the coherence mode include: increased synchronization between the two branches of the ANS, a shift in autonomic balance toward increased parasympathetic activity, increased heart−brain synchronization, increased vascular resonance, and entrainment between diverse physiological oscillatory systems [53].

Positive emotions will gave distinctive HRV pattern compared to negative emotions. Positive emotions have been found to broaden the scope of perception, cognition, and behaviour [54-56] thus enhancing faculties such as creativity [57] and intuition [58].

The Patterns of the Heart's Rhythm

Afferent input from the heart, and, in particular, the pattern of the heart’s rhythm plays a key role in emotional experience. It is important to emphasize, however, that the heart’s rhythmic beating patterns not only reflect the individual’s emotional state, but they also play a direct role in determining emotional experience. At the physiological level, afferent input from the heart is conveyed to a number of subcortical regions of the brain that are involved in emotional processing, including the thalamus, hypothalamus, and amygdala. Moreover, cardiac afferent input has a significant influence on the activity of these brain centers [59- 64]. For example, activity in the amygdala has been found to be synchronized to the cardiac cycle. These understandings support the proposition that afferent information from the heart is directly involved in emotional processing and emotional experience. As amatter of fact, Emotions and psychophysiological patterns are reflected in heart rhythm patterns and frequencies (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Emotions and psychophysiological patterns are reflected in heart rhythm patterns and frequencies [53].

Input from the heart not only affects the homeostatic regulatory centers in the brain, but also influences the activity of higher brain centers involved in perceptual, cognitive, and emotional processing, thus in turn affecting many and diverse aspects of our experience, behavior and consciousness experience (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Afferent pathways. Diagram of the currently known afferent pathways by which information from the heart and cardiovascular system modulates brain activity. Note the direct connections from the NTS to the amygdala, hypothalamus, and thalamus. Although not shown, there is also evidence emerging of a pathway from the dorsal vagal complex that travels directly to the frontal cortex [53].

Centrality of the Heart in the Psychophysiological Network is now evident. There is substantial evidence that the heart plays a unique role in synchronizing the activity in multiple systems of the body and across different levels of organization, and thus in orchestrating the flow of information throughout the psychophysiological network. As the most powerful and consistent generator of rhythmic information patterns in the body, and possessing a far more extensive communication system with the brain than other organs, the heart is in continuous connection with the brain and other bodily organs and systems through multiple pathways: neurologically (through the transmission of neural impulses), biochemically (through hormones and neurotransmitters), biophysically (through pressure and sound waves), and energetically (through electromagnetic field interactions). Of all the organs, the heart generates the largest rhythmic electromagnetic field, one that is approximately 5000 times stronger than that produced by the brain. This field is measured in the nanotesla ranges and can be detected several feet from the body with Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) based magnetometers. Rollin McCraty and colleagues in HeartMath Institute have found that the rhythmic patterns in beat-to-beat heart rate variability reflect emotional states and thus encode and transmit biologically relevant information patterns via the electromagnetic field radiated into the environment.

The heart generates a series of electromagnetic pulses in which the time interval between each beat varies in a complex manner. These pulsing waves of electromagnetic energy give rise to interference patterns when they interact with magnetically polarizable tissues and substances [65]. There is evidence to suggest an energetic field connection is formed among individuals in groups through which communication among all the group members can occur simultaneously. In other words, there may well be a “group field” that connects all the members [66]. Sociologist Raymond Bradley, in collaboration with neuroscientist Karl Pribram, developed a theory of social communication to explain the patterns of social organization common to most groups, independent of size, culture, degree of formal organization, length of existence or member characteristics [67].

The Heart is guiding the Brain

A recent evidence published in nature neuroscience emphasizing the heart precedence in perception and guidance of the brain, Hyeong-Dong Park et al., showed that in humans, neural events locked to heartbeats before stimulus onset predict the detection of a faint visual grating in the posterior right inferior parietal lobule and the ventral anterior cingulate cortex, two regions that have multiple functional correlates and that belong to the same resting- state network (Figure 4) [68].

Figure 4: Neural events locked to heartbeats before stimulus onset predict the detection of a faint visual grating in the posterior right inferior parietal lobule and the ventral anterior cingulate cortex [69].

Another important consideration, in relation to heart–brain interactions, is that Afferent Input to brain centers other than the Thalamus are evident. There are other neural pathways by which the heart has input can modulate cortical activity and thus performance. Alpha rhythm was found to be synchronized to the cardiac cycle and it increases during psychophysiological coherence and those other brain rhythms—namely, the beta rhythm and lower frequency brain activity—also appear to be synchronized to the cardiac cycle (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Alpha activity synchronized to the cardiac cycle. Group mean topographical maps for 30 subjects, showing the percentage of alpha activity in different regions of the brain that is synchronized to the heartbeat during a resting baseline as compared to during actively feeling appreciation (psychophysiological coherence mode).

Reviewing this spectacular perception and understanding of the human heart from the dawn of humanity until the twentieth century is truly marvelous. As a matter of fact the humanity passed a period of linger and loiter or even retardation in the twentieth century to conceptualize the functions of the heart as merely a pump.

Our conventional view of the heart as merely a pump was shaped by William Harvey mechanistic views and others. Certainly Harvey was not alone to shape this deficient mechanistic view of the human heart as merely a pump but his name was probably bound to the pump function of the human heart more than any other name before him or afterward.

In 2019, our King of Organs conferences represent the top notch of the world cardiac sciences, we just start to touch understand what our great ancestors were perceiving the heart as truly the seat of emotion and perception and the intelligence.

This new understanding of the detailed mechanistic interactions between the heart and other organs especially the brain has been transformed to clinical practice and therapeutic models especially in the cardiovascular diseases and psychology practices [69-72].

The Heart is not only a Pump

This level of holistic perception of human heart in the realm of our current life introduced us smoothly to revolutionary paradigm of novel understanding of one of the most elusive issues in life, that is human consciousness. Our published experimental work in the field represent novel understanding of the universal symphony composed of human ANS represented by HRV on one hand and Shumann Resonances, Solar Wind Indices and Cosmic Rays on the other hand [50]. Neuroanatomical aspects of consciousness, the delicate and powerful contribution of cardiac afferent input to brain consciousness related cortical and subcortical structures and pathways and heartbeat evoked potentials (HEP) considered in the universal context are all ground breaking scientific discoveries in the field [73]. The author new definition of consciousness is based on the presence of beating heart.Recently we defined consciousness as a state of alertness and being aware, active and vigilant of the self and surroundings with volition, based in memory and personal identity.This state is ineffable and intrinsic and express itself in presence of soul through activation of different sensing and perceptive body organs but may pass through lighter densities and variable dimensions in quantum nature, if heart stop beating and soul leaves the body [73]. This holistic comprehensive definition is based on our theory which perceive human heart as the center of human consciousness experience that orchestrate with the planetary and cosmic energetic fields: Alabdulgader Theory of Consciousnesss, The Heart Based Resonant Fields [HBRF] [74]. This new comprehensive understanding of human consciousness should bring many scientific disciplines closer to illustrate the necessity of the intelligent blend of science branches to solve historical human issues in medicine, science, philosophy, and religion through the gate of human heart.

This ancient wisdom and believe of the human heart as a mind, source of intelligence and consciousness experience and souvenir of soul, which was thought as the myth of ancient ages is truly intersecting to the state of art cutting edge cardiac sciences of our current era. This wisdom is complementing with the explosive technical advances of other sciences in quantum physics, astrobiology, computer science, vibroengineering and others in historical declaration that our honorable ancestors who started the wisdom have their honorable successors proving the heart genuine but in our own epochal scientific language.

Author

Dr. Alabdulgader, a senior congenital cardiologist/electrophysiologist, has obtained multiple board certifications and memberships from prestigious medical schools and universities in record time (1991-1995) and established a major cardiac hospital funded by his Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz.

He established the first registry of congenital heart diseases in the middle east which was followed by a nationwide registry and was credited for being the first to described a new congenital anomaly of the heart in 2005. He established a series of international conferences (King of Organs) for advanced cardiac sciences in 2006 which is the first medical conference that explores topics related to the information processing and energetic role of the heart.

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Note

This is the first part of an article first published in "Cardiology & Vacular Research". Alabdulgader A. The Ancient Wisdom at Intersection with Modern Cardiac Sciences. Cardiol Vasc Res. 2021; 5(1): 1-13.