The Heart Has A Brain

She was a gracious woman in her late seventies, living in a retirement home because of a "heart problem." Six years ago she had three stents placed in three coronary arteries. She did well until this past year, when she experienced chest pain. She underwent a second cardiac catehterization, during which the cardiologist make a grave error; he punctured the base of the aorta and she bled a cup of blood into the pericardium (the sac that surrounds the heart).

Her heart stopped. Extensive measure to resuscitate her were made; 3 hours and 2 cardiac surgeons later she was still alive. She continued to have chest pain and developed shortness of breath upon exertion. She becames a "cardiac cripple" and was unwilling to undergo another catheterization. "You know, I could deal with cancer, or diabetes or Parkinson's disease," she told me, "but it seems so strange to me to have a heart problem. I can't deal with a problem with my heart."

I had just finished reading "The Heart's Code" by Dr. Paul Pearsall. He was a neuroimmunologist-psychologist who spent his life studying the relationship between the brain, heart and immune system. He was a member of the Heart Transplant Study Team at the University of Arizona. He was involved in the early research of heart transplant recipients, discovering that recipients received memories of their donors.

For example, a young child received the heart of another young child who had been murdered. The recipient was constantly bothered by dreams of someone murdering him. Eventually, he was able to identify the actual murderer of his donor.

Pearsall talks about the heart having its own brain, which unfortunately is controlled by the actual brain. He states that by "listening to the subtle energy and wisdom each of us has in our hearts, we can learn valuable lessons for loving, working, playing, praying and healing. By unlocking the heart's code, we can discover new ways of understanding human healing and consciousness."

Medical scientists today examine the brain for a biological basis to explain religious experiences. Andrew Newberg, American's leading expert on the neurological basis of religion, in his new book, "How God Changes Your Brain," offers some unusual conclusions.

For example, he says that thinking about a loving God stimulates regions of our brain (the frontal lobes and the anterior cingulate) where empathy and reason reside. Thinking about a wrathful God stimulates another region of the brain (the limbic system) where the emotions of aggression and fear reside. "The God we choose to love changes us into his image, whether he exists or not."

A reviewer of his book says that "Newberg's scientific understanding that the brain is drawn naturally toward artificial certainties leaves Newberg skeptical about the capacity of the human mind to accurately perceive 'universal or ultimate truth'"

Is the heart more accurate if we turn to its wisdom? Maybe the woman described above perceived this in her unconsciousness and didn't want her heart damaged any more.

Through prayer and many discussions about quality of life, she underwent her necessary cardiac catheterization with a different cardiologist, only to find that everything was fine. Her medication was changed and she left the retirement home to live on her own, free of pain and shortness of breath.

By Anne Brower  |  May 3, 2009; 6:17 AM ET  | Category:  Faith and Healing
Share: Email a Friend | Technorati | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook
Previous: H1N1 Virus Anxiety | Next: Faith's Healing Presence

Posted by: CCNL | May 6, 2009 6:11 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Posted by: abhab | May 6, 2009 4:24 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Posted by: gladerunner | May 5, 2009 3:09 PM
Report Offensive Comment

The comments to this entry are closed.