The Brain and Its Relation to The Heart

The brain or the cerebrum has been made cool. There has been much debate   about the purpose behind this fact. Some have said: The brain is made to be cool to lower the temperature of the heart. So that it balances its temperature and   makes it the proper temperature. Some have denied this view with  the  following  argument:  If the brain were meant to perform  this  function, it would  have been  placed  to curve  around   the  heart,   in the  same  way  as the   lungs,   or  to  be  adjacent to it, so that it lowers its temperature. The first  group  retorted:   The brain  is far from the   heart,  but  that  does  not  hamper  the  role mentioned    by us. 

If it were close to the heart, the latter's heat would have been transferred to it. The distance bars each from spoiling the part the other plays, and so they balance each other. This is not the same for the lung, since this last is a tool for    relieving the heart, not for lowering its temperature.

A third group has  chosen  a middle ground, saying: The brain is really  warm, or rather lukewarm; and it  is  cooling in quality, since  it is the  site of thinking,  and thinking requires  a place  that  is calm  and  stable,  free  from waste material and  disturbance,  away   from   bustle   and turbulence.  This is necessary to secure efficiency of thought,     recall and right deduction. It functions   optimally when   the body is calm, relaxed   from activity, undisturbed by distractions and irritation.  All the  above  conditions   are not  realized  for the  heart; it is the  brain  which  is balanced in  all  these   respects.    It will  be  noticed that the  brain's activity   is best  displayed  at  night  and  in isolation, and  that it   is   spoiled by the burning  heat  of  anger, lust, or overwhelming care, by fatigue  and  the violent  movements of physical  or psychological   powers.

The joints, muscles and tendons have different shapes. The human body has more than 600 muscles and more than 200 bones. The   average muscle consists of more than 10 million muscular fibres, and the (high bone contains   more than 30 thousand   special calcium rods.

The collective action of muscles during one day is equal to a load of 20 tons.

Question: Does the action of the senses and thinking start in the brain or the heart?

In answer to the above question some have said it begins in the heart, that it is linked to it and that there exist between the heart and the senses channels and paths. They add that each one of the sense organs is linked to the heart with nerves and other means, that these nerves set out from the heart to reach each of these sites of sense.

The  above   group adds: When  the eye sees an object, it  will  transmit   what   it  has  seen  to  the  heart,   via  the channels   that   connect   it  to  the  heart.   In the same way, when   the ear receives a sound, it will convey it to the heart and that is so with all the senses.

The  same  group  then   made   this inquiry:  It may be asked   how  it  is  possible that  one particular  organ  should be a reservoir  of  all  those   mixed  sensations,   receiving messages   from  the  various   senses, while the structure  of those  sense  organs  is dissimilar,  and the kind of energy  it deals  with   is unlike  that of any other  sense? Their answer to the inquiry is that all the vessels in the body reach the heart, directly or via other vessels.  There   is no organ or vessel but it is linked to the heart at close quarters or far. And  they  added:  These  vessels  and   canals carry to each organ  what   fits  it  and  what   is  adapted  to it: to the eyes there  goes  energy  that   provides it with good sight, to the ear what  secures hearing,  to the flesh what  gives it the sense of touch,  to the  nose what  enables   it to smell, to the tongue   what  makes  it taste  things,   and to each  organ  what gives   it  its  particular function   and   maintains  it. It is the heart, then, that caters for all these organs, senses and powers.  It is right then to deduce that the heart is the first organ to form.  This group adds that they do not doubt that the intellectual function emanates from the heart.

The heart has a weight of approximately 312 grams; its size is nearly that of the clenched fist. The pulse of a man’s heart is approximately 60-80 beats/minute,   about 40 million beats per year. In every beat, about one quarter pound of blood enters the heart, and it pumps 2200 gallons of blood every day, about 56 million   gallons during a lifetime. Can you think of another machine that can perform such a stupendous amount of work for such a prolonged period, without need of maintenance?

* If the   heart were employed as a lifting machine, it would lift a weight of two pounds two feet high with the same effort that it uses to pulsate once.

The  blood  that  is  pumped  by  the   heart of a healthy man during   strenuous exercise is about 20 litres per minute, and it  takes  one  wave  of blood  approximately 1.5 seconds to pass  through   the  heart,  and the passage of the blood from the heart  to  the  lungs  and  its  return to  the  heart  (the smaller cycle) takes six seconds.

* The heart  pumps  8000  litres  of  blood  every  day in the whole   blood  circulation,   which   extends   to   about   150 kilometres  throughout    the tissues of the body, transferring blood  loaded  with   nutrients  and oxygen. To appreciate the vitality of  the  blood  supply,  it  is  enough to note that the brain   will  be  irreversibly destroyed  by a  halt  of oxygen supply for only five minutes.

Another group, though, denies this last proposition and holds that the intellectual   function   is in the head.  The truth, however, seems to be that the intellectual   function starts at the heart, then finds its elaboration   and fruition in the head.   One   may   refer to the Qur’an   to support   this view, as the following verse illustrates:

"Have they, then, never journeyed about the earth, letting their hearts gain wisdom?"  (Surah Al-Hajj, 22: 46); and in another verse we read:

"In this, behold,   there is indeed   a reminder for everyone whose heart is wide-awake."   (Surah Qaf, 50:37)         

It  should   be  added   here that  the heart  described  in the   verses   is   not  that   muscular   organ   which   animals possess   as   well  as  humans;   it  is  rather   one  particular function    of   it:   reflection    and  contemplation.   

Another group, though, would not accept this representation - they assert that all the senses are linked to the brain. They deny that   there are nerves or vessels that connect the heart and the eye, the   ear and the nose. They add that such a claim defies the    concrete reality of creatures. The  truth, we believe, lies between the two   groups:  that   the  heart provides  energy  to  the senses, a non-physical  energy  that does  not  require   any particular  paths  and nerves to be its carrier. 

What   is required for this energy to be transmitted is that the senses and organs accept it and are receptive to it, and the heart supplies that energy without any need for paths and nerves. This view avoids the confusion that has arisen in this area and the many arguments and counter­ arguments. But  Allah knows best,  and  I  take  refuge  in Him  to  lead us to the truth.  What I have been trying to do is to draw attention    to just   a few aspects of the wisdom embodied   in the creation   of man.  

But the full   truth is manifold,   more than   one might   imagine   or think.[1] The little  that   we  have  presented  here,  however,  is enough  to awaken  the mind  to the great truth  that  lies beyond.

The  total   blood  contains  25  million   red   cells for carrying oxygen,   and  25 billion  white  cells to resist  bacteria  and  that are part  of the   immune   system  of  the body. They are in five shapes.  There are besides a million platelets   to preserve the blood from bleeding and to produce coagulation in any bleeding   vein.  The  main   site for producing   these  cells is in the   bone  marrow  which  pours  in the blood at the rate of 2.5 million  red  cells  per  second,  5 million  platelets, and  120 thousand   white  cells.  It is worth noting that the red cells transport 600 litres of oxygen to the body's cells every 24 hours.  If the body receives a cut, the production of white blood cells is increased ten times, as every white blood cell produces anti-bacteria toxin, and can devour 40 bacteria.