Rhythm & muse

Reports that San Francisco researchers in a series of studies have shown that appreciation and caring are not only good for the world,but they soothe the heart, too. Its counteraction of the subversive effects of stress on the branches of the nervous system that control cardiac rhythm; How the sympathetic system tries to speed the heart rate, while the parasympathetic tries to slow it down.

By PT Staff, published on November 01, 1994

Heart Beats

We've got the message: Anger, frustration, and stress beat our hearts senseless. That said, might positive emotions clean up the mess?

In a series, of controlled studies, San Francisco researchers have shown that appreciation and caring are not only good for the world, they soothe the heart, too. They counteract the subversive effects of stress on the branches of the nervous system that control cardiac rhythm.

In two separate studies, subjects were asked to mentally and emotionally evoke and keep in mind for five minutes past events that made them angry, then events that engendered appreciation, caring, and compassion. Their hearts beat herky-jerky during times of frustration, reflecting a tug-of-war between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves that wire the heart.

The sympathetic system tries to speed heart rate, the parasympathetic to slow it down. "It's like driving your car with one foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator. It costs a lot in gas and wear and tear on breaks and drive train," observes Rollin McCraty, director of research at the Institute of Heart Math, which sponsored the studies.

But once subjects interrupt a frustrating mindset, there's "a very dramatic shift," says McCraty, and the two systems are in sync. The shift is evidence that heart rhythm can be modified by mental and emotional perception.

The investigators deploy a very specific method of switching emotional gears, called Freeze Frame. It involves recognizing stress and diverting attention away from it by focusing on the physical area around the heart. Subjects then recall and feel the glow of a past positive experience, which essentially disengages them from the heat of the moment. Now in neutral, they ask their hearts for a better response to the current, stressful situation.

Researchers not only monitored hearts, they measured saliva levels of immunoglobulin A, an antibody that is the body's first line of defense in fighting disease. Recalling anger spiked a short burst in IgA, then a six-hour depletion. The positive emotions of Freeze Frame, by contrast, set off an immediate, steep rise in IgA--and lasted six hours.

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