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Cardiac Psychology: Ancient and Modern History

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Handbook of Psychocardiology

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Abstract

Ideas linking the heart to the brain exist in ancient and of course modern texts. In antiquity, the brain was not given its due! The London physician and neuroanatomist Thomas Willis changed this, correctly attributing the source of emotions to the brain. Contemporary research does establish the existence, and autonomic nervous system mechanisms, of cardiac responses to emotion. Further, it documents the phenomenon of “triggered” heart disease, when the autonomic nervous control of the heart goes awry, producing heart disease of sudden onset, precipitated by acute emotional upheaval.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Neurotransmitter Laboratory, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, St Kilda Road Central, PO Box 6492, Melbourne, VIC, 8008, Australia

    Murray Esler

  2. Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, 37 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, VIC, 3065, Australia

    Rosemary Schwarz

Authors
  1. Murray Esler
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  2. Rosemary Schwarz
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Correspondence to Murray Esler .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Monash University, Victoria, Australia

    Marlies Alvarenga

  2. Australia National University, Canberra, Aust Capital Terr, Australia

    Don Byrne

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© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

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Esler, M., Schwarz, R. (2015). Cardiac Psychology: Ancient and Modern History. In: Alvarenga, M., Byrne, D. (eds) Handbook of Psychocardiology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4560-53-5_1-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4560-53-5_1-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-4560-53-5

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