{"id":96229,"date":"2019-04-16T10:45:14","date_gmt":"2019-04-16T14:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=96229"},"modified":"2019-04-17T10:49:32","modified_gmt":"2019-04-17T14:49:32","slug":"can-the-brain-help-heal-the-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/can-the-brain-help-heal-the-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Can The Brain Help Heal The Heart?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A College of Medicine scientist is advancing research on how neurons in the heart <\/em>communicate with the brain in hopes of using those messages to repair cardiac disease.<\/p>\n

Zixi Cheng, a neuro-cardiovascular researcher and doctor at UCF\u2019s Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences<\/a>, recently received a $300,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health for his research on brain-heart interactions.<\/p>\n

Cheng\u2019s lab studies communication pathways of neurons \u2014 cells that send and receive information from the brain using electrical signals.<\/p>\n

Most of the body\u2019s 100 billion neurons are found in the brain, although some are located in the organs including the gut and the heart. Cheng explains that the heart\u2019s 4,000 to 5,000 neurons control the heartbeat and help the heart contract to circulate blood.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t usually think about it, but the brain and the heart are closely connected as the central nervous system controls the heart.\u201d \u2014 Zixi Cheng, UCF neuro-cardiovascular researcher<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t usually think about it, but the brain and the heart are closely connected as the central nervous system controls the heart,\u201d Cheng says. \u201cJust think about when you\u2019re excited or nervous, how your heart beats faster, and when you relax it slows down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because the body has billions of neurons, their individual locations and functions are unclear. That\u2019s why Cheng is developing a comprehensive topographical map that will show the body\u2019s neurons and their connection to the heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur research is trying to figure out how the nervous system is anatomically connected to the heart structure, by mapping the pathways of these neurons and identifying the their functions and how they control the heart,\u201d Cheng says.<\/p>\n