How Your Emotions Change the Shape of Your Heart @TED #shorts #ted

If we ask people which image they most associate with love,

there's no question that the valentine heart would top the list.

But what is this link?

Is it real or purely metaphorical?

As a heart specialist, I'm here today to tell you

that this link is very real.

Fear and grief, for example, can  cause profound cardiac injury.

The nerves that control unconscious processes such as the heartbeat,

can sense distress and trigger a maladaptive fight or flight response

that triggers blood vessels to constrict,

the heart to gallop and blood pressure to rise,

resulting in damage.

In other words,

it is increasingly clear

that our hearts are extraordinarily sensitive to our emotional system.