Bruce or Barb

[Richard]

What do you know of Mimi Guarneri, MD., FACC and her book, The Heart Speaks? She speaks of the heart as having it's own intelligence and decision making capacity. Doctor Guarneri is closely associated with Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, CA.

 

[One Short]

I've not heard of her, but that doesn't really mean anything as I'm more into surgery issues. I can't speak to the accuracy of her book. "Intelligence" is probably used in a very liberal sense. I explain gastrointestinal functions in an athropomorphical way. The stomach doesn't really "talk" to the colon but it gets the point across to people about how hormonal/reflex systems affect function.
I've never found a little brain in the hearts I've dissected, but a transplanted, denervated heart still "knows" how to beat.

Barb

 

[bbchien]

Well, I've read it....and it's a little out there. Depends on what you consider to be "intelligence". I consider it "programming".

 

[gismo]

Well, I've read it....and it's a little out there. Depends on what you consider to be "intelligence". I consider it "programming".

I'm certainly no doctor, but given the heart's propensity to quit beating when the brain suffers significant trauma, it's hard for me to attribute much "intelligence" to the heart.

 

[Richard]

I'm certainly no doctor, but given the heart's propensity to quit beating when the brain suffers significant trauma, it's hard for me to attribute much "intelligence" to the heart.

Maybe it quits beating because of empathy. Or grief over a lost love. Or something more akin to you, open fault.

 

[Bill M.]

I've not read the book but maybe it refers to the heart's ability to compensate for irregular or absent electrical signals and find a way to keep beating such as a junctional escape rhythm.