Recent research published in the journal Sleep Research has shown that even while we sleep, our hearts remain partially connected to the world around us.
Experiments conducted by researchers at the GIGA Cyclotron Research Center at the University of Liège and the University of Fribourg in Switzerland have shown that relaxing words heard during sleep can slow the heart.
This discovery indicates that our body perceives and responds to information even during sleep. Experts emphasize that this connection between cognitive processes and physiological functions of the body is important for understanding how we process information during cognitive processes.
Until now, much of the research on sleep has focused on the brain, with little attention paid to physical activity. Christina Schmidt and Athena Demertzi pointed out the importance of including analysis of physiological indicators such as heart activity in sleep studies to gain a full understanding of how our bodies and brains interact, even during sleep, when normal communication is not possible is.
“Nevertheless, we assume that the brain and body are connected, even when we cannot fully communicate, including sleep. Both brain and body information must then be taken into account to gain a full understanding of how we think and respond to our environment,” explains Dr. Demertzi out.
“We freely shared our methodology following the principles of Open Science, in the hope that the tools that helped make this discovery will inspire other researchers to study the role of the heart in other sleep functions,” advocates Dr. Koroma.
The results of this study indicate that the effects of words on cardiac activity may serve as an indicator of sleep quality and depth. The discovery that relaxing words can slow your heart rate supports the hypothesis that the connection between the brain and the heart is important during sleep.
