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> It’s possible, he says, that this heart–brain loop evolved to help animals process danger signals more quickly: when the animal sees a potential threat, even
by roywiggins 4y ago
> It’s possible, he says, that this heart–brain loop evolved to help animals process danger signals more quickly: when the animal sees a potential threat, even before the brain can fully process what the situation means, the heart rate rises, essentially telling the brain that it should be worried.
I suppose, but how does the information about danger get from the eyes to the heart to the brain faster than from the eyes to the brain?
- lubujackson 4y agoBrain is still in charge - I think the key is bypassing consciousness and reacting sub-consciously. Which makes sense, your body will starts releasing adrenaline before you ever think "oh no!"
- roywiggins 4y agoRight, but it seems like the eyes can plug straight to the unconscious parts of the brain more easily that a Rube Goldberg connection via messages to the heart and back again. Like, whatever connection there is from the eyes to the heart is going to go via the spinal cord anyway. It could stop off and tell the brainstem on the way down.