Absolutely. The brain and the heart are part of a whole inter-communicating system. If the brain becomes aware of a threat in our environment, for example, it sends a whole barrage of signals to its own parts as well as to the heart. So the heart gets information directly from the brain as well as indirectly from changes in hormones, etc. But it doesn't stop there. The heart, as part of that whole circle of activity can also influence the perceptions of the brain and thus the signals it sends. And that's the common error -- to treat the heart as "just" a pump and as "just" responding to the brain's marching orders when it's actually an inter-communicating loop. Does that help? Dr. Karen