Wisdom influenced by heart rate variability

[bananas]

Source: Medical News Today

"There is a wisdom of the head, and a wisdom of the heart," Charles Dickens wrote in his novel Hard Times. But a new study suggests the heart could have a large influence on the wisdom of the head, after finding people with greater heart rate variability may have wiser judgement.

Lead researcher Prof. Igor Grossman, of the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo, Canada, and colleagues publish their findings in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.

<snip>

Prof. Grossman and colleagues note that an increasingly popular notion among cognitive scientists and philosophers is that wise judgement is "recognizing the limits of one's knowledge, being aware of the varied contexts of life and how they may unfold over time, acknowledge other people's points of view, and search for reconciliation of opposing viewpoints."

<snip>

When asked about their opinions on social issues from a third-person perspective, participants with greater heart rate variation were found to reason in a wiser, less biased manner than those with lower heart rate variation.

However, when asked to reflect about societal issues from a first-person perspective, no association between heart rate variation and wiser judgement was identified.

Explaining what their findings mean, Prof. Grossmann says:

"Our research shows that wise reasoning is not exclusively a function of the mind and cognitive ability. We found that people who have greater heart rate variability and who are able to think about social problems from a distanced viewpoint demonstrate a greater capacity for wise reasoning."

<snip>

Read more: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/308851.php

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Another stumbling block for classical AI and self-driving cars.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Fascinating. . . nt

[DhhD]

2. Two hemispheres are better than one.

[forest444]

3. The secret to wisdom:

Budwiser. Thou art wiser with a bud (hungrier, anyway).

[SoLeftIAmRight]

4. wise judgement is "recognizing the limits of one's knowledge

this

[FailureToCommunicate]

5. "Wise judgement is "recognizing the limits of one's knowledge, being aware of

the varied contexts of life and how they may unfold over time, acknowledge other people's points of view, and search for reconciliation of opposing viewpoints."


Boy, does it seem like there are a LOT of people in need of these very attributes at DU during these primary months?

[Petrushka]

6. K & R --- thanks for the link --- posted to my FB page

[Gregorian]

7. Thanks. I ended up getting caught up in some science on heart rate variability.

So it ends up aerobic and weights do a world of preventative and restorative good. A little bit every day helps.

[McCamy Taylor]

8. Association is not causality. Something "wise" people know.

Greater heart rate variability is also associated with improved cardiovascular function, meaning that poor heart rate variability could be a marker for hardening of the arteries, cerebral vascular disease and early dementia and not for idiocy as this post suggests.

[FairWinds]

9. I must be wise as all get out . .

with my heart arrhythmia, my rate varies (no kidding!)

between 37 to 220 Beats Per Minute.

[Jemmons]

10. I hate it when junk science gets thrown around and this is a real bad example of that.

This is a gross misrepresentation of the research on heart rate variability and cognition. As mentioned in the article:

...it was already known that individuals with greater heart rate variation tend to have better executive functioning, such as working memory, than those with lower heart rate variation

This is because heart rate variability is a form of regulation by the brain that acts a good proxy for measuring the regulatory strength of a particular brain at a particular time. Both hrv and "wisdom" relies on the regulatory function of the brain and they therefore tend to CORRELATE. Executive function is largely a function of regulated attention, something which is a lot more costly in terms of energy and energy substrates than instinctual or habitual function, which can run on automatic. These behaviors are based on engrained and optimized activity patterns and are thus cheaper in terms of resources.

[Scuba]

11. It's actually not at all difficult to be wise. Just think ....

... of something stupid to say and don't say it.

[GliderGuider]

13. +1 nt

[Codeine]

12. That's why you can only cast Cure Light Wounds

a limited number of times each day.

[beerandjesus]

14. +1

[ForgoTheConsequence]

15. Socrates said this same thing 2500 years ago.

"recognizing the limits of one's knowledge, being aware of the varied contexts of life and how they may unfold over time, acknowledge other people's points of view, and search for reconciliation of opposing viewpoints."


This isn't new, it has just been ignored .

[Warpy]

16. Some of those wide variations aint great

Orthostatic tachycardia kept me living like a cardiac cripple for years. It wasn't until I passed out in the post office and broke a leg on the way down that anyone took it seriously. I'm still having trouble being able to trust being vertical for more than ten minutes at a time.