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Writer's pictureMegan Shoop-Volz

Thinking with Your Heart, Literally

Updated: Mar 11, 2021

The heart and brain both perform functions essential to keeping us alive, demonstrate parallel responses to emotional and physical stimuli—and both are capable of learning and thinking.


Image credit: Jamie Street


Modern society encourages us to think of the heart and brain as two separate, independent entities. We talk about thinking with our brains, as opposed to our hearts—meaning we should approach situations with logic rather than emotion. We all know that the brain is logical because it’s the center of our thoughts, while the heart experiencing emotions is just a metaphor.


Or do we?


Science shows us that the heart and brain are actually inextricably connected. In medicine, what’s good or bad for one organ is always good or bad for the other. Almonds and salmon contain omega-3 fatty acids that support both brain and heart health. High blood pressure increases both the risk of heart attack and stroke.


Similarly, the heart and brain both perform functions essential to keeping us alive, demonstrate parallel responses to emotional and physical stimuli...and both are capable of learning and thinking.


It turns out that phrases like “let your heart guide you” aren’t just metaphors. In the late 1990s, scientists discovered a cluster of 40,000 neurites (brain-like cells) in the human heart that can learn, think, and retain information independently of our brains. Heart transplant recipients have given accounts of experiencing food cravings or memories that they’d never had before—but their organ donors had. The theory is that these memories were stored in the donors’ neurites and passed on to the organ recipient.


This discovery is incredible in and of itself, but there’s a larger question still to be answered: What function do these little brains serve?


American author and scientist Gregg Braden believes he may have the answer. Watch on to discover more about how to harmonize our hearts with our brains and harness that connection for our greatest good.


Missing Links: Heart-Brain Connection


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