Let’s have a Dinner Party! But YOU host it!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
You’re gearing up for a fun night – and your blood is pumping with excitement! Is your heart getting you too worked up?
Brian Hsueh and team at Stanford put this to the test. Using a non-surgical light technique, they sped up the heartbeat of mice and watched their behavior.
And? They found that increased heart rates made mice MORE anxious – they spent less time in open spaces! These effects even increased activity in brain regions regulating anxiety by TEN PERCENT!
Seems like emotions aren’t just in your head—your body’s involved too.
So… if anyone needs me, I’ll be curled up in a corner… calming myself with cheesy h’or d’oeuvres.
Reference: Hsueh, B., Chen, R., Jo, Y. et al. Cardiogenic control of affective behavioural state. Nature 615, 292–299 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05748-8