The Heart Has Its Own ‘Brain’ and

Consciousness
In5D January 10, 2015 Meditation, Science

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Many believe that conscious awareness originates in the brain alone. Recent scientific
research suggests that consciousness actually emerges from the brain and body acting
together. A growing body of evidence suggests that the heart plays a particularly
significant role in this process.

Far more than a simple pump, as was once believed, the heart is now recognized
by scientists as a highly complex system with its own functional “brain.”

Research in the new discipline of neurocardiology shows that the heart is a sensory
organ and a sophisticated center for receiving and processing information. The nervous
system within the heart (or “heart brain”) enables it to learn, remember, and make
functional decisions independent of the brain’s cerebral cortex. Moreover, numerous
experiments have demonstrated that the signals the heart continuously sends to the
brain influence the function of higher brain centers involved in perception, cognition, and
emotional processing.

In addition to the extensive neural communication network linking the heart with the
brain and body, the heart also communicates information to the brain and throughout
the body via electromagnetic field interactions. The heart generates the body’s most
powerful and most extensive rhythmic electromagnetic field. Compared to the
electromagnetic field produced by the brain, the electrical component of the
heart’s field is about 60 times greater in amplitude, and permeates every cell in
the body. The magnetic component is approximately 5000 times stronger than the
brain’s magnetic field and can be detected several feet away from the body with
sensitive magnetometers.

The heart generates a continuous series of electromagnetic pulses in which the time
interval between each beat varies in a dynamic and complex manner. The heart’s ever-
present rhythmic field has a powerful influence on processes throughout the body. We
have demonstrated, for example, that brain rhythms naturally synchronize to the heart’s
rhythmic activity, and also that during sustained feelings of love or appreciation, the
blood pressure and respiratory rhythms, among other oscillatory systems, entrain to the
heart’s rhythm.
 We propose that the
heart’s field acts as a
carrier wave for
information that provides a
global synchronizing
signal for the entire body.
Specifically, we suggest that
as pulsing waves of energy
radiate out from the heart,
they interact with organs and
other structures. The waves
encode or record the features and dynamic activity of these structures in patterns of
energy waveforms that are distributed throughout the body. In this way, the encoded
information acts to in-form (literally, give shape to) the activity of all bodily functions—to
coordinate and synchronize processes in the body as a whole. This perspective
requires an energetic concept of information, in which patterns of organization are
enfolded into waves of energy of system activity distributed throughout the system as a
whole.

Basic research at the Institute of HeartMath shows that information pertaining to a

person’s emotional state is also communicated throughout the body via the heart’s
electromagnetic field. The rhythmic beating patterns of the heart change significantly as
we experience different emotions. Negative emotions, such as anger or frustration, are
associated with an erratic, disordered, incoherent pattern in the heart’s rhythms. In
contrast, positive emotions, such as love or appreciation, are associated with a smooth,
ordered, coherent pattern in the heart’s rhythmic activity. In turn, these changes in the
heart’s beating patterns create corresponding changes in the structure of the
electromagnetic field radiated by the heart, measurable by a technique called spectral
analysis.

More specifically, we have demonstrated that sustained positive emotions appear

to give rise to a distinct mode of functioning, which we call psychophysiological
coherence. During this mode, heart rhythms exhibit a sine wave-like pattern and the
heart’s electromagnetic field becomes correspondingly more organized.
At the physiological level, this mode is characterized by increased efficiency and
harmony in the activity and interactions of the body’s systems. [1]

Psychologically, this mode is linked with a notable reduction in internal mental

dialogue, reduced perceptions of stress, increased emotional balance, and enhanced
mental clarity, intuitive discernment, and cognitive performance.

In sum, our research suggests that psychophysiological coherence is important in

enhancing consciousness—both for the body’s sensory awareness of the information
required to execute and coordinate physiological function, and also to optimize
emotional stability, mental function, and intentional action. Furthermore, as we see next,
there is experimental evidence that psychophysiological coherence may increase our
awareness of and sensitivity to others around us. The Institute of HeartMath has
created practical technologies and tools that all people can use to increase coherence.

Heart Field Interactions Between Individuals

Most people think of social communication solely in terms of overt signals expressed
through language, voice qualities, gestures, facial expressions, and body movements.
However, there is now evidence that a subtle yet influential electromagnetic or
“energetic” communication system operates just below our conscious awareness.
Energetic interactions likely contribute to the “magnetic” attractions or repulsions that
occur between individuals, and also affect social exchanges and relationships.
Moreover, it appears that the heart’s field plays an important role in communicating
physiological, psychological, and social information between individuals.
Experiments conducted at the Institute of HeartMath have found remarkable evidence
that the heart’s electromagnetic field can transmit information between people. We have
been able to measure an exchange of heart energy between individuals up to 5 feet
apart. We have also found that one person’s brain waves can actually synchronize to
another person’s heart. Furthermore, when an individual is generating a coherent heart
rhythm, synchronization between that person’s brain waves and another person’s
heartbeat is more likely to occur. These findings have intriguing implications, suggesting
that individuals in a psychophysiologically coherent state become more aware of the
information encoded in the heart fields of those around them." width="661" height="399"
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Experiments conducted at the Institute of HeartMath have found remarkable evidence

that the heart’s electromagnetic field can transmit information between people. We have
been able to measure an exchange of heart energy between individuals up to 5 feet
apart. We have also found that one person’s brain waves can actually synchronize to
another person’s heart. Furthermore, when an individual is generating a coherent heart
rhythm, synchronization between that person’s brain waves and another person’s
heartbeat is more likely to occur. These findings have intriguing implications, suggesting
that individuals in a psychophysiologically coherent state become more aware of the
information encoded in the heart fields of those around them.

The results of these experiments have led us to infer that the nervous system
acts as an “antenna,” which is tuned to and responds to the electromagnetic
fields produced by the hearts of other individuals. We believe this capacity for
exchange of energetic information is an innate ability that heightens awareness and
mediates important aspects of true empathy and sensitivity to others Furthermore, we
have observed that this energetic communication ability can be intentionally enhanced,
producing a much deeper level of nonverbal communication, understanding, and
connection between people. There is also intriguing evidence that heart field
interactions can occur between people and animals.

In short, energetic communication via the heart field facilitates development of an

expanded consciousness in relation to our social world.

The Heart’s Field and Intuition

There are also new data suggesting that the heart’s field is directly involved in intuitive
perception, through its coupling to an energetic information field outside the bounds of
space and time. Using a rigorous experimental design, we found compelling evidence
that both the heart and brain receive and respond to information about a future event
before the event actually happens. Even more surprising was our finding that the heart
appears to receive this “intuitive” information before the brain. This suggests that the
heart’s field may be linked to a more subtle energetic field that contains information on
objects and events remote in space or ahead in time. Called by Karl Pribram and others
the “spectral domain,” this is a fundamental order of potential energy that enfolds space
and time, and is thought to be the basis for our consciousness of “the whole.”

Social Fields
In the same way that the heart generates energy in the body, we propose that the social
collective is the activator and regulator of the energy in social systems.

A body of groundbreaking work shows how the field of socioemotional interaction

between a mother and her infant is essential to brain development, the emergence of
consciousness, and the formation of a healthy self-concept. These interactions are
organized along two relational dimensions—stimulation of the baby’s emotions, and
regulation of shared emotional energy. Together they form a socioemotional field
through which enormous quantities of psychobiological and psychosocial information
are exchanged. Coherent organization of the mother-child relations that make up this
field is critical. This occurs when interactions are charged, most importantly, with
positive emotions (love, joy, happiness, excitement, appreciation, etc.), and are
patterned as highly synchronized, reciprocal exchanges between these two individuals.
These patterns are imprinted in the child’s brain and thus influence psychosocial
function throughout life. (See Allan Schore, Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self)

Moreover in a longitudinal study of 46 social groups, one of us (RTB)

documented how information about the global organization of a group—the
group’s collective consciousness—appears to be transmitted to all members by
an energetic field of socio-emotional connection. Data on the relationships between
each pair of members was found to provide an accurate image of the social structure of
the group as a whole. Coherent organization of the group’s social structure is
associated with a network of positively charged emotions (love, excitement, and
optimism) connecting all members. This network of positive emotions appears to
constitute a field of energetic connection into which information about the group’s social
structure is encoded and distributed throughout the group. Remarkably, an accurate
picture of the group’s overall social structure was obtained from information only about
relationships between pairs of individuals. We believe the only way this is possible is if
information about the organization of the whole group is distributed to all members of
the group via an energetic field. Such correspondence in information between parts and
the whole is consistent with the principle of holographic organization. [2]

Synthesis and Implications

Some organizing features of the heart field, identified in numerous studies at HeartMath,
may also be shared by those of our hypothesized social field. Each is a field of energy
in which the waveforms of energy encode the features of objects and events as energy
moves throughout the system. This creates a nonlocal order of energetic information in
which each location in the field contains an enfolded image of the organization of the
whole system at that moment. The organization and processing of information in these
energy fields can best be understood in terms of quantum holographic principles. [3]
Another commonality is the role of positive emotions, such as love and appreciation, in
generating coherence both in the heart field and in social fields. When the movement of
energy is intentionally regulated to form a coherent, harmonious order, information
integrity and flow are optimized. This, in turn, produces stable, effective system function,
which enhances health, psychosocial well-being, and intentional action in the individual
or social group.

Heart coherence and social coherence may also act to mutually reinforce each other.
As individuals within a group increase psychophysiological coherence, psychosocial
attunement may be increased, thereby increasing the coherence of social relations.
Similarly, the creation of a coherent social field by a group may help support the
generation and maintenance of psychophysiological coherence in its individual
members. An expanded, deepened awareness and consciousness results—of the
body’s internal physiological, emotional, and mental processes, and also of the deeper,
latent orders enfolded into the energy fields that surround us. This is the basis of self-
awareness, social sensitivity, creativity, intuition, spiritual insight, and
understanding of ourselves and all that we are connected to. It is through the
intentional generation of coherence in both heart and social fields that a critical shift to
the next level of planetary consciousness can occur—one that brings us into harmony
with the movement of the whole.

For more information on the Institute of HeartMath’s research and publications, please
visit www.heartmath.org.

Footnotes

1.Correlates of physiological coherence include: increased synchronization between the

two branches of the autonomic nervous system, a shift in autonomic balance toward
increased parasympathetic activity, increased heart-brain synchronization, increased
vascular resonance, and entrainment between diverse physiological oscillatory systems.
2.Holographic organization is based on a field concept of order, in which information
about the organization of an object as a whole is encoded as an interference pattern in
energy waveforms distributed throughout the field. This makes it possible to retrieve
information about the object as a whole from any location within the field.
3.The term “quantum,” as used in quantum holography, does not mean that this kind of
energetic information processing is understood in terms of the principles of quantum
physics. Rather, quantum holography is a special, nondeterministic form of holographic
organization based on a discrete unit of energetic information called a logon or a
“quantum” of information.