While popular wisdom associates the heart with emotions and the brain with reason, the scientific world seems to be increasingly convinced that all mental processes are determined solely by the brain. Interestingly, however, there is growing evidence that the heart, which also contains nerve cells, has a strong influence on thinking and feeling. In an opinion paper recently published in the journal Trends in Neurosciences, Arno Villringer, Vadim Nikulin and Michael Gaebler from the MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) propose a new concept that explains both the important role of the heart in many mental processes and the frequent co-occurrence of cardiovascular and mental illnesses.
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