Shannon Gossett
sgossett@sclance.com
Staff Writer
Rusty heart. Photo courtesy of Vera Kratochvil
Can the heart actually feel, think, remember and care? We often hear phrases like: “Heartbreaking”, “Heartwarming” or just straight up “Heartless.”
These phrases refer to emotions so how do we relate that with the heart? Does the heart feel emotion or does the brain make it appear that way? Can the heart in fact retain memories? For some heart transplant patients a sudden need to have certain foods becomes overwhelming.
Even activities that were once not enjoyed become enjoyable.
Some people may laugh at the possibility while others believe this is in fact a possible thing.
So how can this phenomena be explained? A story from 1988 was released from The London Sunday Times about a 47 year old woman, Claire Sylvia a drama teacher from Boston, who had had a heart transplant and within weeks she developed a taste for green peppers, beer and Mexican food.
Later she learned that the heart that she was given came from a young man who loved to drink beer and eat Mexican food. Coincidence? Maybe or maybe not.
(For more details into Claire’s amazing story check out: http://www.open-source-cranio.com/resources/articles/transplant.pdf)
That is not the first time this has happened either.
You can find these types of stories anywhere. It is not hidden information.
This testimony was from Don Peshek a man from Canton, Ohio who had a heart transplant back in 2007.
When asked to share who he was and if he personally had any new found characteristics post operation he replied with:
“I was a manager for a large industrial company, college educated, ex-military, and quietly dominating.
My journey has seen a number of twists and turns, but I know nothing about my donor or donor's family.
I have written the family 2 thank you letters and never heard back.
I've had a few "incidents" but they could have been medication induced. As for pure "cellular memory", I simply don't know for sure.
Though I suspect that my donor may have been left handed ....... as a life long right handed person, I seem to be more accurate using my left hand now.”
This brings us to the next level of our journey to discovery where the seemingly impossible is made possible.
The science of the heart!
Dr. Rollin MacCraty from California’s Hearthmath University has developed research started by Dr. J. Andrew Armour, author of Neurocardiology: Anatomical and Functional Principles.
Dr. Armour has claimed that there is a system of living neurons on the heart. MacCraty states that the heart must have a memory because such a function is vital to the organ.
It must be able to store when the last heart beat occurred. Such a function is by its very nature a memory and therefore is a type of function normally associated with the brain.
Dr. Macraty’s research reported tests that were given to people who were shown a series of pictures which were meant to provoke strong emotional reactions.
His tests showed that the heart responded before the brain. So the heart must have ability to process emotional data.
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.
Moreover, our research shows that messages the heart sends the brain can also affect performance.
The graph illustrates the entrainment that can occur between the HRV (heart) and EEG (brainwaves) wave forms. The left hand graphs show the time domain signals for the HRV and the EEG while the right hand 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. (Graph and research conducted and provided by the Institute of Heartmath)
Key findings: As people learn to sustain heart-focused positive feeling states, the brain can be brought into synchronization with the heart.
So in the end we are left with the conclusion that the heart does in fact have an ability to process and create emotions.
This means that heart transplant recipients claiming to have gained new characteristics, food cravings or hobbies linked to their previous owners do in fact have valid proof behind this reasoning.
It also goes to show that no human being was created the same.
That’s why each person is so unique!
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