Whilst out for a walk today on the Suffolk coast ( -6 with the wind factor) I had this thought !

So which is it ?

Or shall I just get my coat !

Heart beats itself but obviously it can’t operate without the brain, the brain doesn’t beat but yes it needs a lot of O2 which the heart supplies.

Oh and the brain can tell the heart to work faster if needed.

I was being metaphoric about the brain having a beat…

heart can’t tell the brain to work faster…(if it did i may have married someone else !)

Don’t the av nodes stimulate the heart to beat separate of the CNS?

Saw an interesting programme on the TV a while back describing a large group of neurons in the heat (which some called “The small brain of the heart”) and associated research suggesting that the heart could make decisions (that might not be exactly the right term) independantly of the brain

http://madurasinghe.blogspot.co.uk/2008/06/neurocardiology-brain-in-heart.html

My brain only beats when I’m hungover.

Does the mind play apart?

The latter (heart makes the brain work). 🙂

Cardiac myocytes (muscle cells) in the sinoatrial (SA) node display automaticity ie they are capable of firing off electrical signals to commence a heartbeat without any external stimulus.

Therefore, the heart can work without a brain, but the brain cannot survive without the heart sending it blood.

Here comes the science bit…

pjay was that the one about people who had heart transplants taking on characteristics/personality traits from the donor?
the documentary i saw about this was really mental, it showed handwrinting changes that matched the donor and stuff like that 😯

Therefore, the heart can work without a brain, but the brain cannot survive without the heart sending it blood.

Good luck with that.

Sure, it’s a salmon heart, but the principle’s the same

Yeah it will for a bit same as you brain will have some activity for awhile after your heart stops but they need each other to maintain for any length of time. Like I said in my original post yes it beats itself but needs the brain to say how fast. Without the brain it runs in tick over mode but can’t keep that up forever.

Automatistic innit, according to ancient ritual sacrifice da heart can beat all on its own… but not for long.

@ Jonah, no I don’t recall that so I suspect that it was a different documentary but if did touch on the idea that language tends to attribute emotion to the heart (heart break, heartfelt etc.).

Doesnt the brain stem do the control for that?