Thinking with the heart besides the brain in the Noble Quran was proven by Science:
The sections of this article are:
1- The Noble Quran's claim.
2- Articles with the Scientific Proofs.
3- Conclusion.
The Noble Quran's claim:
Let us look at what Allah Almighty said in the Noble Quran:
"Verily in this is a Message for any that has a heart and understanding or who gives ear and earnestly witnesses (the truth). (The Noble Quran, 50:37)"
"That is because they believed, then they rejected Faith: So a seal was set on their hearts: therefore they understand not. (The Noble Quran, 63:3)"
"Or do those in whose hearts is a disease, think that God will not bring to light all their rancour? (The Noble Quran, 47:29)"
"And We put coverings over their hearts (and minds) lest they should understand the Quran, and deafness into their ears: when thou dost commemorate thy Lord and Him alone in the Quran, they turn on their backs, fleeing (from the Truth). (The Noble Quran, 17:46)"
"Of them there are some who (pretend to) listen to thee; but We have thrown veils on their hearts, So they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; if they saw every one of the signs, not they will believe in them; in so much that when they come to thee, they (but) dispute with thee; the Unbelievers say: "These are nothing but tales of the ancients." (The Noble Quran, 6:25)"
"They prefer to be with (the women), who remain behind (at home): their hearts are sealed and so they understand not. (The Noble Quran, 9:87)"
There are many other Noble Verses that deal with the hard-hearted disbelievers that
have hearts with "disease" and "hearts that understand not" that I can
provide, but I think the above are sufficient enough. The question here is:
Why is Allah Almighty claiming that the disbelievers' hearts do not understand and are full of disease? Allah Almighty classified them as what we call today "hard-hearted" people.
"After (the excitement) of the distress, He sent down calm on a band of you overcome
with slumber, while another band was stirred to anxiety by their own feelings, Moved by
wrong suspicions of God-suspicions due to ignorance. They said: "What affair is this
of ours?" Say thou: "Indeed, this affair is wholly God's." They hide in
their minds what they dare not reveal to thee. They say (to themselves): "If we had
had anything to do with this affair, We should not have been in the slaughter here."
Say: "Even if you had remained in your homes, those for whom death was decreed would
certainly have gone forth to the place of their death"; but (all this was) that God
might test what is in your breasts and purge what is in your hearts. For God
knoweth well the secrets of your hearts. (The
Noble Quran, 3:154)"
"And that which is (locked up) in (human) breasts is made manifest- (The Noble Quran, 100:10)"
The Arabic word that was translated as "breasts" here is "sudoor". Sudoor is a plural of "sader". The more literal translation of sudoor is "chests" and not "breasts". Sader means a male's breast or chest, while "thadi" means a female's breast. A female's chest is also "sader". So, "breasts" in Noble Verses 3:154 and 3:154 is not an accurate translation. "Chests" is the accurate one.
Anyway, in these Noble Verses, we see Allah Almighty talking about physical thoughts and "secrets" inside the hearts.
Again, why is Allah Almighty talking about physical thoughts and "secrets" inside the hearts?
Articles with the Scientific Proofs:
Science had proven that the heart does impact the brain's thinking capability, and does also feed the brain thoughts and feelings that would control the perspective of the person.
Article #1:
The following article was taken from: http://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/soh_20.html
Traditionally, the study of communication pathways between the "head" and heart has been approached from a rather one-sided perspective, with scientists focusing primarily on the heart's responses to the brain's commands. However, we have now learned that communication between the heart and brain is actually a dynamic, ongoing, two-way dialogue, with each organ continuously influencing the other's function. Research has shown that the heart communicates to the brain in four major ways: neurologically (through the transmission of nerve impulses), biochemically (via hormones and neurotransmitters), biophysically (through pressure waves) and energetically (through electromagnetic field interactions). Communication along all these conduits significantly affects the brain's activity. Moreover, our research shows that messages the heart sends the brain can also affect performance.
The heart communicates
with the brain and body in four ways:
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The studies described in this section probe several of these communication pathways, looking specifically at how the brain responds to patterns generated by the heart during positive emotional states. The first two studies focus primarily on neurological interactions, demonstrating that the afferent signals the heart sends the brain during positive emotions can alter brain activity in several ways. In the first study, we find that cardiac coherence can drive entrainment between very low frequency brainwaves and heart rhythms, thus further expanding our understanding of the physiological entrainment mode described in the previous section. In the second study, we learn that coherent heart rhythms also lead to increased heart-brain synchronization. The implications of these findings are explored in the third study, which shows that in states of high heart rhythm coherence, individuals demonstrate significant improvements in cognitive performance.
Taken together, the results of these studies demonstrate that intentionally altering one's emotional state through heart focus modifies afferent neurological input from the heart to the brain. The data suggest that as people experience sincere positive feeling states, in which the heart's rhythms become more coherent, the changed information flow from the heart to the brain may act to modify cortical function and influence performance. These findings may also help explain the significant shifts in perception, increased mental clarity and heightened intuitive awareness many individuals have reported when practicing the HeartMath techniques.
The final two studies in this section are concerned with energetic communication by the heart, which we also refer to as cardioelectromagnetic communication. The heart is the most powerful generator of electromagnetic energy in the human body, producing the largest rhythmic electromagnetic field of any of the body's organs. The heart's electrical field is about 60 times greater in amplitude than the electrical activity generated by the brain. This field, measured in the form of an electrocardiogram (ECG), can be detected anywhere on the surface of the body. Furthermore, the magnetic field produced by the heart is more than 5,000 times greater in strength than the field generated by the brain, and can be detected a number of feet away from the body, in all directions, using SQUID-based magnetometers (Figure 12). Prompted by our findings that the cardiac field is modulated by different emotional states (described in the previous section), we performed several studies to investigate the possibility that the electromagnetic field generated by the heart may transmit information that can be received by others.
The
Heart's
Electromagnetic Field
Figure 12. The heart's electromagnetic field--by far the most powerful rhythmic field produced by the human body--not only envelops every cell of the body but also extends out in all directions into the space around us. The cardiac field can be measured several feet away from the body by sensitive devices. Research conducted at IHM suggests that the heart's field is an important carrier of information.
Continuation of Article: http://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/soh_21.html
Thus, the last two studies summarized in this section explore interactions that take place between one person's heart and another's brain when two people touch or are in proximity. This research elucidates the intriguing finding that the electromagnetic signals generated by the heart have the capacity to affect others around us. Our data indicate that one person's heart signal can affect another's brainwaves, and that heart-brain synchronization can occur between two people when they interact. Finally, it appears that as individuals increase psychophysiological coherence, they become more sensitive to the subtle electromagnetic signals communicated by those around them. Taken together, these results suggest that cardioelectromagnetic communication may be a little-known source of information exchange between people, and that this exchange is influenced by our emotions.
HEAD-HEART ENTRAINMENT:A PRELIMINARY SURVEY
Rollin McCraty, PhD, William A. Tiller, PhD and Mike Atkinson. In: Proceedings of the Brain-Mind Applied Neurophysiology EEG Neurofeedback Meeting. Key West, Florida, 1996.
Figure 13. Illustrates the entrainment that can occur between the HRV and EEG waveforms. The lefthand graphs show the time domain signals for the HRV and the EEG (brainwaves), while the righthand panels show the frequency spectra during the entrained state. Note the large peak at the entrainment frequency (~0.12 Hz) in both the HRV and the EEG while the subject is in the entrained state.
Key findings: As people learn to sustain heart-focused positive feeling states, the brain can be brought into entrainment with the heart.
Summary: This study examines in further detail the entrainment mode of cardiac function described previously in "Cardiac Coherence: A new noninvasive measure of autonomic nervous system order." In the previous investigation it was found that when the heart is functioning in the entrainment mode, there is a marked shift in the HRV power spectrum to the resonant frequency range of the baroreceptor feedback loop (around 0.1 Hz), and frequency locking between the HRV waveform, respiration and pulse transit time occurs. The present study shows that as individuals learn to maintain the entrainment mode through sustaining sincere, heart-focused states of appreciation or love, the brain's electrical activity can also come into entrainment with the heart rhythms. Figure 13, below, shows an example of entrainment occurring between a subject's HRV and the very low frequency band region of the electroencephalograph (EEG) recordings after the individual practices the Freeze-Frame intervention for 5 minutes. There is nearly a hundred-fold increase in power in the 0.1 Hz frequency range of the HRV power spectrum after the Freeze-Frame intervention and a correlated 4 to 5- fold increase in the EEG signal power in that same frequency range. Our present hypothesis is that a strong and sustained increase in baroreceptor system activity leads to greatly increased coupling between the heart (HRV) and the brain (EEG) via nerve conducted signals and increased coherence in the vascular system. The results of this experiment provide one example of how increasing coherence in the heart rhythms, by intentionally generating positive emotions, can alter brain activity.
Continuation of Article: http://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/soh_22.html
Influence of afferent cardiovascular input on cognitive performance and alpha activity [Abst.]. Rollin McCraty, PhD and Mike Atkinson. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Pavlovian Society, Tarrytown, NY, 1999. Full paper in preparation.
Key findings: The brain's alpha wave activity is synchronized to the cardiac cycle. During states of high heart rhythm coherence, alpha wave synchronization to the heart's activity significantly increases.
Summary: This investigation explores further how the heart's activity influences that of the brain. In this pilot study, heartbeat evoked potentials were analyzed in ten individuals. The analysis of heartbeat evoked potentials is a signal processing technique used to identify segments of the EEG (brainwaves) that are correlated to or affected by the heartbeat (Figure 14). In this way, it is possible to determine specific changes in the brain's electrical activity that are associated with afferent signals from the heart.
The subjects' EEGs were recorded using electrodes placed along the medial line and the frontal sites. To determine which brainwave frequencies showed cardiac- related activity, the region of the EEG between 50 and 600 milliseconds post R-wave was then subjected to spectrum analysis. As a control, this procedure was repeated but instead of using the ECG as the signal source, an artificial, randomly generated signal with the same mean inter-beat interval and standard deviation as the original ECG was used for the time reference. It was found that the brain's alpha wave activity (8-12 Hz frequency range) is synchronized to the cardiac cycle. There was significantly more alpha rhythm synchronization when the real ECG was used for the signal source as compared to the control signals. Additionally, analyses revealed that brainwave activity at a lower frequency than alpha is also synchronized to the ECG signal.
In the next phase of the study, we sought to determine if there is a change in the degree of alpha rhythm synchronization to the ECG during periods of increased heart rhythm coherence. In this phase, subjects used the Cut-Thru technique, an emotional refocusing exercise, a means of quieting inner emotional dialogue, instilling a positive emotional state and increasing heart rhythm coherence. Subjects' heart rhythm coherence and heartbeat evoked potentials were analyzed during a 10-minute baseline period, and again while they practiced the Cut-Thru technique for 10 minutes. There was a significant increase in heart rhythm coherence during the period that subjects used the Cut-Thru technique. Heartbeat evoked potential data showed that in this state of increased heart rhythm coherence, alpha wave synchronization to the cardiac cycle increases significantly (Figure 15).
Figure 14. Signal averaging is a technique used to trace afferent neural signals from the heart to the brain. The ECG R-wave is used as the timing source for event-related changes in the brain's activity, and the resulting waveform is called a heartbeat evoked potential. This graph illustrates an example of a heartbeat evoked potential waveform showing alpha activity in the EEG that is synchronized to the cardiac cycle.
In conclusion, this study shows that the brain's activity is naturally synchronized to that of the heart, and also confirms that intentionally altering one's emotional state through heart focus modifies afferent neurological input from the heart to the brain. Results indicate that the brain's electrical activity becomes more synchronized during psychophysiologically coherent states. Implications are that this increased synchronization may alter information processing by the brain during the experience of positive emotions.
Continuation of Article: http://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/soh_23.html
Figure 15. Changes in alpha wave synchronization during high heart rhythm coherence. There was a significant increase in alpha rhythm synchronization to the ECG at most EEG sites during the use of the Cut-Thru intervention (high heart rhythm coherence). * p <.05, ** p <.01, *** p <.001.
CARDIAC COHERENCE IMPROVES COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE
Influence of afferent cardiovascular input on cognitive performance and alpha activity [Abst.]. Rollin McCraty, PhD and Mike Atkinson. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Pavlovian Society, Tarrytown, NY, 1999. Full paper in preparation.
Key findings: States of increased heart rhythm coherence are associated with improvements in cognitive performance.
Summary: Given our previous findings (above) indicating that states of increased heart rhythm coherence give rise to distinct changes in the brain's activity, we subsequently performed an experiment to determine whether these changes might have a measurable impact on cognitive performance. Thus, this study assessed changes in cognitive performance associated with states of increased heart rhythm coherence. In this investigation, 30 subjects were randomly divided into matched control and experimental groups based on age and gender. Cognitive performance was assessed by determining subjects' reaction times in an oddball auditory discrimination task before and after practicing the Cut-Thru emotional self-management technique to increase cardiac coherence. In this test, subjects listened to a series of two different tones through headphones. They were presented with 300 tones, each with a 50-millisecond duration. Eighty percent of the tones were 1000 Hertz sine waves (standard), and the other 20 percent were 1100 Hertz tones (odd) randomly mixed in between the standard tones, spaced around two seconds apart. Subjects were instructed to push a button as quickly as possible upon hearing an odd tone. The interval between the presentation of the tone and the pressing of the button is the reaction time.
Following a 10-minute baseline period, subjects were given a practice session to gain familiarity with pressing the button and identifying the different tones. This was followed by the first 10-minute auditory discrimination task. Thereafter, the experimental group subjects were asked to employ the Cut-Thru self-management technique for 10 minutes, while control subjects engaged in a relaxation period during this interval. Following this, all subjects performed a second 10-minute auditory discrimination task, the results of which were compared to the first. Subjects' ECGs, pulse transit time and respiration were continuously monitored throughout this entire experimental sequence. Heart rhythm coherence, derived from the ECG, was calculated for all subjects during each phase of the testing sequence. As shown in Figure 16, there was a significant increase in heart rhythm coherence in the subjects who used the Cut-Thru technique that was not evident in the relaxation group.
Increased
Heart Rhythm
Coherence During Cut-Thru
Figure 16. Shows changes in heart rhythm coherence across experimental conditions. The experimental group used the Cut-Thru intervention in the interval between the two auditory discrimination tasks, while the control group engaged in a relaxation period during this time. (ADT = auditory discrimination task.) *p < .05 .
Continuation of Article: http://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/soh_24.html
As compared to the control group, subjects using the Cut-Thru technique demonstrated a significant decrease in reaction times in the discrimination task following the application of the technique, indicating improved cognitive performance (Figure 17). In addition, a significant relationship was found between the degree of heart rhythm coherence and reaction times. Increased cardiac coherence was associated with a significant decrease in reaction times (improved performance).
The results of this study support the hypothesis that the changes in brain activity that occur during states of increased psychophysiological coherence lead to changes in the brain's information processing capabilities. Results suggest that by using heart-based interventions to self-generate coherent states, individuals can significantly enhance cognitive performance.
Increased
Heart Rhythm Coherence
Improves Cognitive Performance
Mean Reaction Times
Figure 17. Mean reaction times for the experimental versus control group during the first (pre-intervention) and second (post-intervention) auditory discrimination tasks. By using the Cut-Thru technique to generate a state of increased heart rhythm coherence, the experimental group achieved a significant reduction in mean reaction time, indicative of improved cognitive performance. Note that control group participants, who simply relaxed during the interval between tests, showed no change in mean reaction time from the first to the second discrimination task. (ADT = auditory discrimination task.) *p < .05 .
THE ELECTRICITY OF TOUCH:DETECTION AND MEASUREMENT OF CARDIAC ENERGY EXCHANGE BETWEEN PEOPLE
Rollin McCraty, MA, Mike Atkinson, Dana Tomasino, BA and William A. Tiller, PhD. In: Proceedings of the Fifth Appalachian Conference on Neurobehavioral Dynamics: Brain and Values. 1997. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Key findings: When people touch or are in proximity, one person's heartbeat signal is registered in the other person's brainwaves.
Summary: The concept of an energy exchange between individuals is central to many healing techniques. This concept has often been disputed by Western science due to the lack of a plausible mechanism to explain the nature of this energy or how it could affect or facilitate the healing process. The fact that the heart generates the strongest electromagnetic field produced by the body, coupled with our findings that this field becomes measurably more coherent as the individual shifts to a sincerely loving or caring state, prompted us to investigate the possibility that the field generated by the heart may significantly contribute to this energy exchange. This study presents a sampling of results which provide intriguing evidence that an exchange of electromagnetic energy produced by the heart occurs when people touch or are in proximity. Signal averaging techniques are used to show that one person's electrocardiogram (ECG) signal is registered in another's electroencephalogram (EEG) and elsewhere on the other person's body (See Figure 18 for an example). While this signal is strongest when people are in contact, it is still detectable when subjects are in proximity without contact.
Figure 18. Heartbeat signal averaged waveforms showing a transference of the electrical energy generated by Subject B's heart which can be detected in Subject A's EEG (brainwaves) when they hold hands.
Article #2:
The following article was taken from: http://husol.hahnemann.edu/chaosjk1.htm
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What do heart rhythms and chaos theory have in common? Yasha Kresh, Ph.D., hopes his explanation may someday lead to a new way of predicting problems for cardiac patients.
"In our every day life we often think of chaos as randomness or noise," said Dr. Kresh, professor of cardiothoracic surgery and medicine and research director of cardiothoracic surgery, cardiovascular biophysics and computing. "Chaos theory is a mathematical approach to thinking about systems that exhibit a great deal of complexity, and it's becoming a very powerful tool in physics and engineering to help analyze multi-dimensional non-linear systems."
Chaos theory, Dr. Kresh explained, postulates that complex systems have a high degree of organization, even though they might seem on the surface to be disorganized or random, and that tiny disturbances can at times have a profound effect on those systems.
"The classic example used to explain chaos theory is weather forecasting," Dr. Kresh said. "When a butterfly flaps its wings in Japan, it is a minuscule event, but it impacts the weather to some degree in Philadelphia. Chaos theory tries to predict the influence that these small events have on the dynamics and response of complex systems."
While linking chaos and the heart might seem far-fetched, for Dr. Kresh the idea falls right in line with his major research interest - understanding how the heart is regulated and regulates itself.
"What we're trying to do is determine how much complexity there is in the heart, and is that complexity really a natural part of its normal function," he explained.
Rather than looking at external factors that regulate the heart - messages from the brain or oxygen demand from other parts of the body - Dr. Kresh and his research team are studying how the heart regulates itself.
"We believe that the heart, as many other organs and, in fact, cells, has a inherit ability to regulate itself," he explained. That view led Dr. Kresh to study the heart's own nervous system, which at times acts independently of the rest of the body.
"It turns out that the heart has its own 'brain' - an intrinsic nervous system. It's not clear what it does or if it's subservient to the higher brain. But it's clear that it is there, and I believe it has a mission because evolution does not allow things to remain without purpose. We think this internal nervous system helps to fine-tune and integrate the heart's diverse activity." A thinking shared by Dr. Igor Izrailtyan a Research Associate who joined the Lab from the Moscow Heart Institute to pursue this line of inquiry.
So where does chaos theory fit into this view of the heart as a self-regulating system? By looking at heart rhythm, Dr. Kresh asserted.
"The cardiovascular system is highly interactive and possesses many interdependent
processes. 
Many of
the mechanisms we attempt to study in isolation are coupled in parallel and many of the
actions/reactions take place simultaneously. The heart and circulation operate on multiple
time scales or frequencies and vastly distributed space. It is this complexity that allows
the system to remain organized. When the dimensions of activity are altered as in disease
- there lies the danger".
"For example, under normal circumstances there is a great deal of chaotic behavior in the heart rate. The heart does not beat 70 beats per minute exactly all the time. The rhythm varies on a beat-to-beat basis, displaying many fluctuations over a given time span - a kind of complicated musical score.
"That variability is very important," Dr. Kresh added. "When that variability converts itself into a regular monotonic rhythm, you can pretty much be certain that is the beginning of disaster. These type of rhythms are often precursors to sudden death events (heart fibrillation) and fetal distress conditions during delivery.
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The following page was taken from: http://husol.hahnemann.edu/chaosjk2.htm
Dr. Kresh believes that the heart rhythm's chaotic nature is actually a built-in safety measure. "Healthy organisms are embodied with "chaotic" complexity and robustness that gives them flexibility to deal with adversity be it internal or external. On the other hand disease may represent a breakdown - a kind of bifurcation away from this complexity to where only limited and restricted reaction is possible. Think of disease, be it physical or mental, as a breakdown of the integrated holistic aspects of the organism."
Dr. Kresh and his research team have already made one connection between a lack of chaos and problems for cardiac patients.
"My personal interest in this field started with a paradox - the observation that blood pressure fluctuation are chaotically-ordered under normal conditions. It was a major surprise to discover that a transition to a more ordered and monotonic fluctuation -a kind of anti-chaos rhythm (locked into one frequency) was associated with abnormal states such as blood loss or hemorrhage and poor supply of blood to the brain or stroke. This implies that biologic chaos is GOOD - the loss of flexibility and complexity is BAD", Dr. Kresh said.
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The following page was taken from: http://husol.hahnemann.edu/chaosjk3.htm
The next logical step in that line of research, said Dr. Kresh, is analyzing heart rhythms with an eye toward its use as a predictor of impending trouble.
"We are planning a collaboration with a number of centers to collect data from obstetrical patients who required a Caesarian section," he explained. "We want to see if there is anything in the data collected by the fetal monitors that might have predict that outcome - minutes, hours or even days in advance. The idea is to go back in time on the tape (labor and cardiac patients) and see when did the broad-band of frequencies started to shrink, is that a sign of disaster (fetal distress, cardiac arrest) to come?"
If there is a connection, Dr. Kresh believes that data could be used to warn of
possible evolving problems. "People may say they would not want to make their
decisions 
based on
a mathematical model prediction, but look how much we believe the weather forecaster. They
use similar mathematics and complicated models to give a hint of what might happen,"
he observed.
In addition to that line of research, Dr. Kresh also believes that his studies of the heart as a self-regulating system could eventually lead to a new way of analyzing and treating conditions such as heart failure.
"You may ask, are we on the threshold of a new paradigm shift in biology and medicine with Chaos theory? Or more pragmatically, should we train Doctors heading into the 21th century to use these mathematical tools to provide improved health care for their patients? The fact remains that the problems we face in medicine are very complex. New frontiers of ideas are needed. The view that health is an equilibrium state and that disease is a mere disturbance of equilibrium may prove to be very limiting".
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References and background....
The following page was taken from: http://husol.hahnemann.edu/chaosref.htm
| CHAOS INTERVIEW home page |
| HEART HOSPITAL home page |
For an introduction (literally, "Chaos
101"), MSNBC's "The Site" has some online materials about Chaos
Theory put together for a television segment in March of 1997. The humbly titled Chaos Homepage
offers many graphics and a bibliography.
The categorized listings at Yahoo concerning Chaos Theory are as good a place as any to begin looking for relevant information.
The four images on these pages were created by J. Yasha Kresh using FRACTINT for the IBM PC.
Article #3:
The following article was taken from: http://www.healthandage.com/html/res/aging_of_you/content/8.htm
Introduction
The Brain Talks to the Heart Differently Than to Other
Muscles
Jekyll and Hyde, or The Autonomic Nervous System
Sympathetic or Parasympathetic Shifts in Nerve Traffic
Related to Physical and Mental Stress
The Brain Also Talks to the Heart Using the Language of
"Biochemistry"
Introduction
Reality is far more
incredible than fiction! The communication between the human brain and the heart is a
striking example. This article will show you how the brain communicates with the heart
through the nervous system. And, we will discuss how, with aging, some of the messages get
weakened. Thus, the older heart no longer responds like the younger heart.
The Brain Talks to the Heart Differently Than to Other Muscles
To understand how brain to heart communication deteriorates with aging you first need to
know how nervous stimulation from the brain to the heart, which is a muscular organ, is
different than communication from the brain to other muscles in your body. Consider how
most muscles work! For example, in order to function, the muscles in your arms and legs
and elsewhere in your body, called skeletal muscles, require a connection from your brain
to them by way of nerves.
Nerves are bundles of fibers interconnecting the central nervous system (the brain and
spinal cord) with organs and other body parts. Nerves transmit either sensory stimuli
(meaning those that results in sensations such as pain, heat, etc.) or motor impulses
(those that result in movement of the muscles) from one part of the body to another. Now,
consider what happens, if, for example, the area in your brain that provides stimuli to a
leg muscle via nerve fibers is damaged by a stroke or other brain trauma, or if there is
permanent damage to the interconnecting nerves anywhere along the route from the brain to
the muscle. Essentially, all skeletal type muscle, which would normally be stimulated by
way of this "destroyed" pathway, would atrophy (or waste away), as well as the
nerve fibers themselves.
In contrast to skeletal muscle, heart muscle can continue to function even when nerve
fibers from the brain to the heart are severed! Does this sound like a scene from the
X-Files, a Vincent Price Thriller or the plot for a new Stephen King Novel? Truth is
stranger than fiction! The ability of the heart to beat after its nerves fibers are cut is
one of these truths. The heart beats on in spite of severed nerves. The classic example of
the ability of the heart to beat after its nerves have been severed is heart
transplantation. Everyone knows that a heart can be removed from one person and
transplanted into another. The process of removing the heart from an organ donor requires
that all nerves connected to the donor's heart be severed. After being implanted into the
recipient and stimulated, the heart will then beat without nerves. So, if the nerves
connecting the brain to the heart are not essential for it to beat, why then, do they
exist in the first place? The answer is that these nerves exist to function in fine-tuning
the heart's action. They assist at determining how fast the heart beats and how hard the
heart pumps. As one ages, brain-heart communication diminishes. As a result the older
heart does not respond as it did at an earlier age.
To understand this aging effect let's first take a look at the part, or division, of the
nervous system that functions in brain heart communication, and then discuss the role of
the neurotransmitters, which are biochemical products of this division to see why
brain-heart communication "withers with aging"..
Jekyll and Hyde, or The Autonomic Nervous System
The nerves that link the brain to the heart are part of what is called the autonomic
nervous system. The autonomic nervous system pathways connect the heart and other internal
body organs to the brain. This system functions in an involuntary and reflexive manner. It
directs activities of the body that do not require conscious control. You could think of
it as allowing things to happen automatically. For example, in most cases, your intestines
and your heart operate without you knowing it. You eat a hamburger without having to say,
"O.K. stomach and intestines, start working now to digest this Big Mac". And
when your favorite sports team makes the winning score in a crucial match, you don't need
to tell your heart to beat faster, it just does.
The autonomic nervous system is made up
of two divisions: sympathetic and parasympathetic. Autonomic nerve fibers originate from
the brain and spinal cord and deliver impulses to your heart's pacemaker and other parts
of the heart. They exert a substantial modulatory influence over how fast and how hard the
heart pumps. These two divisions could be thought of as the Jekyll and Hyde of the
Automonic Nervous System, because they have opposite actions on your heart. The
sympathetic division signals both your heart's pacemaker to increase its firing rate and
your heart's muscle cells to increase the strength of their contraction; and the
parasympathetic division sends signals to slow down your heart rate. The sympathetic
fibers, which increase the heart rate, are activated in times of stress or emergency
situations, sometimes called "fight", or take "flight", situations.
The parasympathetic fibers slow the heart rate and allow us to "rest" and
"digest".The autonomic nervous system is made up of two divisions: sympathetic
and parasympathetic. Autonomic nerve fibers originate from the brain and spinal cord and
deliver impulses to your heart's pacemaker and other parts of the heart. They exert a
substantial modulatory influence over how fast and how hard the heart pumps. 
These two divisions
could be thought of as the Jekyll and Hyde of the Automonic Nervous System, because they
have opposite actions on your heart. The sympathetic division signals both your heart's
pacemaker to increase its firing rate and your heart's muscle cells to increase the
strength of their contraction; and the parasympathetic division sends signals to slow down
your heart rate. The sympathetic fibers, which increase the heart rate, are activated in
times of stress or emergency situations, sometimes called "fight", or take
"flight", situations. The parasympathetic fibers slow the heart rate and allow
us to "rest" and "digest".The autonomic nervous system is made up of
two divisions: sympathetic and parasympathetic. Autonomic nerve fibers originate from the
brain and spinal cord and deliver impulses to your heart's pacemaker and other parts of
the heart. They exert a substantial modulatory influence over how fast and how hard the
heart pumps. These two divisions could be thought of as the Jekyll and Hyde of the
Automonic Nervous System, because they have opposite actions on your heart.
The sympathetic division signals both your heart's pacemaker to increase its firing rate
and your heart's muscle cells to increase the strength of their contraction; and the
parasympathetic division sends signals to slow down your heart rate. The sympathetic
fibers, which increase the heart rate, are activated in times of stress or emergency
situations, sometimes called "fight", or take "flight", situations.
The parasympathetic fibers slow the heart rate and allow us to "rest" and
"digest".
Sympathetic or Parasympathetic Shifts in Nerve Traffic Related
to Physical and Mental Stress
Previous articles in this series focused on cardiovascular reserve function, largely in
the context of increased demands for blood flow to your body during the stress of
exercise. Now we must look at what happens to the autonomic nervous system under similar
conditions. During exercise stress (and mental stress as well), major shifts in nerve
traffic occur within the sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic nerves. In the basal
state, meaning completely resting and lying down, parasympathetic input to your heart and
blood vessels predominates over sympathetic regulation. But during graded degrees of
stress, (sitting up, standing, walking, jogging), or performing during different
gradations of exercise, impulses via the parasympathetic nerves wane and impulses via the
sympathetic nerves increase. This shift in the type of autonomic nervous "tone"
to your heart and blood vessels during stress occurs in a way that does not involve the
thinking (cerebral input) or upper part of your brain (cerebrum). Rather, the shift occurs
via a change in signals from the nerve body stations along your spinal cord and other
nerve bodies within your lower brain. Hence, the graded shift in nerve traffic in response
to graded stress occurs through an action called a reflex. You don't have to think about
it to make it happen.
Another distinction between these two divisions is that they emerge from the central
nervous system (brain or spinal column) from different points of origin. The sympathetic
fibers arise from the middle portion of the spinal cord. The parasympathetic arises both
above and below the sympathetic, that is, from the brain and from the lower part of the
spinal cord. Together, but in opposing fashion, these two divisions control the functions
of the heart and circulatory system and other internal organs.
The Brain Also Talks to the Heart Using the Language of
"Biochemistry"
The sympathetic nervous system, one of the two divisions of the autonomic nervous system,
as previously noted, is sometimes referred to as the adrenergic nervous system (meaning
having activity like that of adrenalin). This system has alpha and beta adrenergic
components. Neurotransmitters, or signaling substances, called epinephrine and
norepinephrine, activate the heart's beta adrenergic receptors. Autonomic nerve fibers as
well as your adrenal gland release these neurotransmitters during exercise and other kinds
of stress. These substances travel to the heart cells through the blood. They deliver the
brain's message by binding with special receptors on the membranes of the heart cells, and
set off a chain of molecular events within these cells that might end with a faster
beating heart, stronger contractions, and faster relaxation between beats. Or, depending
on what neurotransmitter is called upon, the autonomic nervous system can tell the heart
to reverse all these effects and slow down.
We can define the essence of sympathetic nervous system influence on the heart and blood
vessels by examining the results of the following study. The study compared a young
person's cardiovascular performance during vigorous exercise (when full sympathetic
nervous input occurs) with that measured during vigorous exercise in the presence of a
drug that blocked (or substantially reduced) sympathetic signaling. The drug used is
called a beta blocker, i.e. it blocks the beta adrenergic component of the autonomic
system. You may have heard of this type of drug, as it is used in clinical medicine in the
treatment of cardiovascular diseases (a future article will address this). Compared to the
situation when the beta adrenergic stimulation was intact, in the presence of the
beta-blocking drug the heart rate during vigorous exercise in the young volunteer did not
increase as much, the heart size dilated, and the usual increase in ejection fraction was
reduced. Does this pattern sound familiar to you? It should if you have been following
this Series, "Aging of Your Heart and Blood Vessels is Risky".
The effects of the beta blocking drug on the young heart:
1. acute cardiac enlargement during exercise
2. diminished increase in heart rate and
3. reduced ejection fraction
are the characteristics of the exercise response of older persons compared to younger
persons. This response was discussed in Article 3 "How Good a Pump is Your Older
Heart?" In essence, by blocking the beta adrenergic system of the young volunteer the
investigators of this study converted the cardiovascular performance profile of a young
person into one of an older person! Thus, the essence of the beta adrenergic modulation of
heart function during exercise is to make the heart beat faster and stronger and to keep
its size small. A young heart normally responds in this way to vigorous exercise. However,
aging, even in otherwise healthy persons, is accompanied by a reduction in the
effectiveness of the beta adrenergic nerve influence on the heart. In other words, the
beta adrenergic signaling which acts in young hearts to accommodate vigorous exercise
tends to falter with age, even in normal healthy people. Why is this? The reduced beta
adrenergic influence on the older heart during exercise could be attributed to a reduction
in the production of the neurotransmitters (norepinephrine and epinephrine), resulting in
reduced delivery of these signaling substances to "docking sites" on the heart
and blood vessel cells. (Docking sites, called receptors, are areas on cells where
specific substances, like biochemicals, can be accepted, absorbed or passed through.)
Alternatively, the age-associated deficit could be due to a reduced response to these
substances by the older heart and blood vessel cell's docking sites. Which is it? The
answer is that it is a reduced response to the neurotransmitters by the docking sites on
the heart and blood vessel's cells. Is this normal human aging? What do scientists know
about this? Can anything be done to prevent or delay this age related process? We will
discuss some of these issues in our next article.
Article #4:
The following article was taken from: http://www.heartmath.com/pr/headheartconnect.html
Are you thinking with your head or your heart?
Press Release - 3.15.2001
Research shows thinking with "the brain in the heart" can make us healthier and smarter.
When you hear the word intelligence the first thing you think of probably isn't the heart. But new research has shown that the heart is in fact smart. The brain in our head is dutifully obeying messages that are being sent from another brain, "the brain in the heart." The heart isn't just a throbbing mass of muscle, it's actually quite a sensitive instrument that is processing critical information. With every beat of the heart intricate messages are being sent to the brain and other bodily systems. In fact, these messages are being received by every cell in our body.
Listen to your heart.
Our ability to hear and act on the information being sent from the heart, can make the difference in whether we experience life as a series of stressful events or one that's rich in quality. The heart provides information that can help us eliminate the mental and emotional drain caused by confusion, stress, overwhelm, anxiety and frustration. The HeartMath Solution book (HarperSanFrancisco) provides the stepping stones to easily dial in to the heart and reap the benefits of its intelligence. The HeartMath Solution is based on revolutionary work being done at the Institute of HeartMath (IHM), a non profit research organization that has made breakthrough discoveries in understanding the heart's intelligence.
What does "heart intelligence" mean to you and me?
There are many benefits that come from learning to utilize the heart's intelligence. They range from mental and emotional boosters like more clarity, productivity and creativity, to increased feelings of happiness, and HeartMath case studies also show significant decreases in feelings like worry, depression and emotional fatigue. There are also physical health benefits that come from "thinking" with your heart. The Institute's published studies show that using HeartMath techniques can increase immune system efficiency, balance hormones and increase DHEA. They also create more harmonious heart rhythms which are considered to be indicators of cardiovascular health and nervous system balance.
Conclusion:
As I mentioned above, Science had proven that the heart does impact the brain's thinking capability, and does also feed the brain thoughts and feelings that would control the perspective of the person. When Allah Almighty in the Noble Quran talked about hard-hearted disbelievers who have "disease in their hearts" and lack "understanding", He clearly referred to the heart's physical capability of comprehending and accepting. He further elaborated on the heart's capability of storing thoughts and "secrets" in Noble Verses 3:154 and 100:10 above, and in many other Noble Verses.
Those whom Allah Almighty had "put a veil" in their hearts had hearts that failed to accept and comprehend the Noble Quran, because of the wrong attitude that they had. A person's view and perspective for something might totally differ from another person's. I might see a beautiful scenery on a mountain, while another person might see it as an ugly one. The person's attitude and psychological behaviour do effect the heart's acceptance and comprehending of things. That is why Allah Almighty said: "Verily in this is a Message for any that has a heart and understanding or who gives ear and earnestly witnesses (the truth). (The Noble Quran, 50:37)"
"gives ear" means having the right attitude and open mind to listen and understand. Stubbornness and hardness only cause the person's heart to refuse rather than to accept.
It is amazing that science had proven the importance of the heart in our thinking process, and showed how the heart does indeed have a thinking capability and storing of thoughts and feelings in it, and how it does interact with the brain and control our thinking and perspective, while the Noble Quran 1500 years ago talked about the heart and its ability to understand and store thoughts and "secrets", when people viewed understanding as only controlled solely by the brain.
The Scientific Miracles and Prophecies in Islam. See the overwhelming accurate Quranic claims matching with many scientific discoveries.
