The influence of Anxiety on Neurocardiological Relations.

Fear does not just act on the brain, it alters the communication between the brain and the heart. Such interactions take place via the neurocardiological system that is a network connecting the emotional parts of the brain with the cardiovascular and autonomic nervous system. The constant communication is interrupted when the anxiety is made chronic, and both mental and physical health is affected.

Brain-Heart Communication

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the type of nervous system, which controls those processes that cannot be controlled, such as heart rate and blood pressure. There are two primary components, the sympathetic (fight or flight) and the parasympathetic (rest and digest) systems. Ordinarily, these operate in equilibrium. The sympathetic dominance anxiety changes to the sympathetic dominance and the body remains always alert (Thayer et al., 2012).

A decrease in the variability of heart rate (time between heartbeats) (HRV) is one such measurable outcome. The decreased HRV implies a lower level of communication between the brain and heart and reduced flexibility in responding to stress. Research has always established that individuals with anxiety have lower HRV (Kim et al., 2018).

Brain Circuits and Control of Emotions.

Amygdala and prefrontal cortex are at the center of the role of anxiety on the heart. The amygdala perceives the danger and transmits immediate messages increasing the heart rate and blood pressure. Such responses are normally controlled by the prefrontal cortex which weakens in chronic anxiety resulting in persistent physiological arousal (Tovote et al., 2015).

The results of a 2024 MIT study revealed that when people were in anxiety-inducing situations, the coordination between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex went down, which demonstrates that emotional stress interferes with brain-heart coherence (Massimini et al., 2024).

Cardiovascular Complications.

The constant stimulation of these brain structures may negatively affect the heart. Cortisol and adrenaline are stress hormones which raise blood pressure and inflammation (Chalmers et al., 2014). It may eventually lead to dysfunction of the endothelial cells and predispose to hypertension and arrhythmias (Chen et al., 2022).

Studies also reveal that anxiety disorders are risk factors independent of the heart disease since the brain areas that handle fear and emotion have direct effects on the cardiovascular control centres (Chen et al., 2022).

Breaking the Cycle

Heart functioning is affected by anxiety and vice versa. When one experiences a rapid heartbeat, the brain can translate this signal as danger, which increases anxiety (Critchley, & Garfinkel, 2017). Other therapies best suited to restore the balance include those that enhance parasympathetic activity. Physical activity, mindfulness, and breathing exercises have been reported to boost HRV and enhance emotional control (Sakakibara et al., 2020). Other emerging therapies such as the vagus nerve stimulation are also promising in the reduction of anxiety and cardiac stability (Bretherton et al., 2019).

Conclusion

Stress causes anxiety to change the communication between the brain and the heart by overreacting with stress, interrupting neural coherence, and hormonal reactions. These effects decrease the heart rate variability and augment the cardiovascular risk. This knowledge of this relationship points to the fact that anxiety management is not solely an issue of the mind but also an issue of the wellbeing of the heart.

Sources

Bretherton, B., et al. “Effects of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Heart Rate Variability in Healthy Humans.” Autonomic Neuroscience, vol. 223, 2019.

Chalmers, J. A., et al. “Anxiety Disorders Are Associated with Reduced Heart Rate Variability.” Frontiers in Psychiatry, vol. 5, 2014.

Chen, W., et al. “Autonomic Neural Circuit and Intervention for Comorbidity of Anxiety and Cardiovascular Disease.” Frontiers in Physiology, vol. 13, 2022.

Critchley, H. D., and Garfinkel, S. N. “Interoception and Emotion.” Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 68, 2017.

Kim, H. G., et al. “Stress and Heart Rate Variability.” Psychiatry Investigation, vol. 15, no. 3, 2018.

Massimini, F., et al. “Altered Brain-Heart Coherence During Anxiety-Inducing Stimuli.” MIT Press Neural Computation, vol. 36, 2024.

Sakakibara, M., et al. “Effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Heart Rate Variability.” Journal of Psychosomatic Research, vol. 135, 2020.

Thayer, J. F., et al. “Heart Rate Variability and Neuroimaging Studies.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, vol. 36, 2012.

Tovote, P., et al. “Neuronal Circuits for Fear and Anxiety.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, vol. 16, 2015.