ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS

26. HEART CAN THINK

❤︎ Anjali ❤︎

During my first semester in Colombia, I take a job as an assistant to Dr. Waxman. It excites me to work for her on this project. It seems that the university didn't accept her proposal for her research, as the subject was too avant-garde for the academic world.

I don't ask her, but I think she starts to pay my salary out of her pocket. When I walk into her office, the doctor tells me what happened since we last saw each other.

"I met a psychologist at Yale University the other day. I was very interested in his work because he has written numerous books regarding memory and how memories are created. He has a theory called 'Feedback Mechanism,' which is how the brain creates memories through the neural network."

"This is how he explained to me. There is a network system that exists in the brain. Once information is emitted into the neurons, the neurons' output feeds back into the neurons' input. Because of the feedback that occurs within the neural network, memories are created. As long as this feedback mechanism is present, neurons will learn patterns that will eventually create a memory."

"For neurons to learn, feedback is vital. In other words, any system that has the feedback mechanism will learn and create memories. So I asked him about the possibility of the heart having a feedback mechanism. He told me someone was specializing in that field and suggested I talk to a neurologist in Montreal, Canada."

"Last month, I fixed an appointment and went to see him. He is a fascinating doctor and showed me his discoveries regarding the heart. He began to do his research in the 60s when the heart was considered just a pump. The doctors were able to see only the physical function of the heart."

"He began to explain to me what he had discovered. He disagreed with other doctors, so he started to develop the technology to measure it electronically. He detected and recorded the neurons that exist in the heart. No one was expecting that the heart would possess neurons."

"They weren't only simple forms of neurons. On the contrary, they were a quite sophisticated collection of neurons that were organized into a small yet complex nervous system. He even took some photos of this nervous system. It looks just like a brain. So he called it a 'little brain in a heart.'"

 "He thought If the heart had brain cells, could it have its own unique type of intelligence? He called it 'heart intelligence.' The type of neurons in the heart's brain has been demonstrated to have short- and long-term memory, the same type of techniques and methods the brain exhibits to create a memory."

"It is the 'Feedback Mechanism' the doctor at Yale was talking about. This little collection of neurons can retain the memory of how to pump blood. So the last cardiac cycle can set up many future cardiac cycles. Once a heart is removed from a donor, it is cooled, and it can stay alive for up to four hours, as you know."

"Only once a heart is reconnected with its new owner does it spontaneously start to beat again. Why? Because the heart itself contains the memory of its function. Is it called 'memory'? Then how can we prove that the heart retains long-term memory? The heart is serving as a circular feedback system for the core memories of the body."

"Suppose the heart is taken out and placed in another body. In that case, this core memory will keep circulating in the nervous system of the heart. It will pass on the memories of the donor to the body that received the heart. He doesn't think that is very strange because it is rather normal that the new body will be affected and influenced by the new heart.

"That moment, his words made me think of the phrases of the doctor from the University of Honolulu. 'Is there another source of intelligence other than the brain? Is there another way to think?'  The neurologist concluded his point of view and suggested that I contact someone he recommends for his discovery."

 "He has been collaborating with a doctor in California. This doctor is the director of Heart Foundation.  He highly recommends me to meet with this director. He said the director's research would open my eyes and let me see my research from a new perspective.'

On the airplane coming back from Montreal, I reflected on his findings. I was gradually convinced that our memories do not reside only in our brains.

"Next week, I am thinking about going to California to talk to the director at Heart Foundation. I feel that there is much to learn from him. It seems that he is on the cutting edge of scientific research for the heart. I thought you could help me organize the information we are going to receive. Would you like to come along? I will pay for the trip."

It is an amazing offer, so I say yes right away. This is a fantastic opportunity for me to work with someone specializing in the heart's function directly. I am ready to go. At that moment, I didn't know my heart would experience something I had never experienced before.