Mind-body Connection: 10 Facts that prove it is deep

Mind-body Connection: 10 Facts that prove it is deep

Written By

Aditya Shukla, Cognition Today

1

40,000 neural connections in the heart

The heart and brain are in constant talk about emotions, fight or flight, and safety.

2

Gut health = Brain health

The gut's mini-brain structure and the gut microbiome influence mental health, IBS, skin health, anxiety, and homeostasis.

3

90% Serotonin forms in the gut

Over 90% of the neurochemical serotonin comes from the gut. It is the neurochemical that improves our mood.

4

Physical hobbies, mental advantages

Hobbies  like dance & music give a boost to cognitive skills like spatial reasoning + memory.

5

Practice makes multi-tasking

Physical practice and repetition makes multi-tasking easy because the tasks act as "muscle memory".

6

High brain space for movement

A very large part of the brain - the motor cortex - is dedicated to physical movement.

7

Interoception - sensing the body

Interoception is an in-built internal sense about the status of our body parts. Sensing pain, hunger, changes in muscle tension, etc.

8

Identity has a location

Our sense of identity is a location within (egocentric)  or outside (allocentric) our body, with the body always being a reference point.

9

Empathy is a body simulation

Empathy is our simulation of someone else's body's state. Like a deep mimic. This is done by the "as-if-body-loop".

10

Bodily states influence decisions

Our decisions are influenced by our body's arousal state like hunger, thirst,  and pain. But we can't figure out when or how.