It is known that the brain is the central command of the body. It is the part of the body responsible for controlling every move that we make, and the one responsible for processing the thoughts that we have. But just as the other parts of the body depend on the brain, the brain also depends on the body. The connection goes both ways.
If certain internal receptors indicate hunger, for instance, we’re driven to eat; if they indicate cold, we dress more warmly.
However, decades of research have also shown that those sensations do much more than alert the brain to the body’s immediate concerns and needs. As the heart, lungs, gut and other organs transmit information to the brain, they affect how we perceive and interact with our environment in surprisingly profound ways. Recent studies of the heart in particular have given scientists new insights into the role that the body’s most basic processes play in defining our experience of the world.
More about this over at Nautilus.
(Image Credit: Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator/ Wikimedia Commons)