Elmer Green, Menninger Clinic
physician and pioneer of the biofeedback approach
to treatment of disease, offered an astute summation
of this highly debated topic: “Every change in the
physiological state is accompanied by an appropri-
ate change in the mental emotional state, conscious
or unconscious, and conversely, every change in the
mental emotional state, conscious or unconscious,
is accompanied by an appropriate change in the
physiological state.”
autonomic responses vary both quantitatively and qualitatively
with the degree of emotional intensity.
Individual differences in patterns of autonomic
discharge during emotional states have also been
identified and associated with personality charac-
teristics. For instance, individuals who have been
characterized as “impulsive” personality types dis-
play rhythmic bouts of palmar sweat secretion and
increases in heart rate even at rest, while in others,
little change occurs in these physiological parameters
under similar circumstances.
Afferent feedback from bodily organs has been
shown to affect overall brain activity and to exert a
measurable influence on cognitive, perceptual, and
emotional processes.
Rollin McCraty, Ph.D.
Heart–Brain Neurodynamics
The Making of Emotions
