Sympathectomy causes a parasympathetic dominance

A u t o n o m i c N e r v o u s S y s t em


Sympathetic Pathway - Accelerator
High Effort - Adrenaline

Parasympathetic Pathway - Brake
Low Effort/Relaxation - Acetylcholine

www.macquarieinstitute.com.au/pdfs/

the critical role of ascending input from the heart and body to the brain in the generation of emotions

Heart-Brain Neurodynamics ENDY Heart–Brain Neurodynamics: The Making of Emotions By Rollin McCraty, Ph.D. The Making of Emotions Heart-Brain Neurodynamics explores recent scientific advances that clarify a number of central controversies in the understanding of emotion, including the relationship between intellect and emotion. A discussion of the critical role of ascending input from the heart and body to the brain in the generation of emotions culminates in a detailed presentation of a new model of emotion in which the brain functions as a complex pattern-matching system. From this perspective it is shown that the heart is a key component of the emotional system, providing a physiological basis for the link between the heart and our emotional life.

New Electrophysiological Correlates Associated with Intentional Heart Focus. Rollin McCraty, M.A., Mike Atkinson, & William A. Tiller, Ph.D.

the heart is a key component of the emotional system

Research has also shown that the heart is a key component of the emotional system. Scientists now understand that the heart not only responds to emotion, but that the signals generated by its rhythmic activity actually play a major part in determining the quality of our emotional experience from moment to moment. As described next, these heart signals also profoundly impact perception and cognitive function by virtue of the heart’s extensive communication network with the brain. Finally, rigorous electrophysiological studies conducted at the Institute of HeartMath have even indicated that the heart appears to play a key role in intuition. Although there is much yet to be understood, it appears that the age-old associations of the heart with thought, feeling, and insight may indeed have a basis in science.
Ph.D. Rollin McCraty