Myth 4: “The Mind Does Not Influence Biology”

The fact that not all parts of the body are equally important to our brain proves the relationship between mind and body—just as one would expect. It is enough to recall how good or bad news can physically affect our bodies to realize this connection.

Very recent studies have revealed not only that the heart has its own neuronal field, but also that it communicates with the brain through the vagus nerve. We also know how intuition guides some of the most important decisions in our lives and how it connects with emotions that are deeply rooted yet difficult to explain. There are inconclusive studies on sensory perceptions in babies who appear to recognize their mother’s heartbeat in a transplanted heart, as well as cases reported by these patients of emotions or memories that were not originally their own.

There is a growing body of research demonstrating the relationship between the mind and biology. Dr. Nazareth Castellanos introduces an additional sense beyond the five traditionally recognized senses: interoception, understood as the information our brain receives from parts of the body such as the intestines, the heart, or the stomach. On the other hand, proprioception informs us about the state of our body—whether we are tense, sitting properly, or experiencing back pain, among other things—and we analyze this information in order to make different decisions.

In addition, the somatosensory cortices show the areas of the brain where different parts of our body are represented, and the brain uses these representations to form associations based on the idea that we are not what we see, but what we interpret. In other words, when we see a scene, we are interpreting it. The brain seeks to avoid incongruences and aims to build an internal representation of our world. Not all parts of the body are equally important to the brain: there are more neurons devoted to the hands and thumbs than to the back. It is also a fact that mudra postures activate serotonin, and many of them promote sustained attention processes.

Another very important area for the brain is the face. Facial expressions—such as the brow, the mouth through smiling, and the eyes—are crucial for emotional regulation. Neurologists have even noted, not without a certain irony, that people who have had Botox in the brow area “process more happy moments than dramatic ones due to the paralysis that occurs in that part of the body.”

Finally, to debunk this myth, we turn to the words of the great Ramón y Cajal, who stated that “we can all be sculptors of our own brain,” and that it ultimately depends on us which kinds of thoughts we choose to inhabit

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