Feeling Your Feelings: The Head-to-Toe Science of Emotions

Feeling Your Feelings: The Head-to-Toe Science of Emotions — page 3
I'm a bit gassed How's it going down there Head-to-Toe Emotional You've probably heard that your emotions are controlled by your brain And there's a lot going on up there You have eighty-six billion nerve cells or neurons in your head They gather messages from your senses memories hormones and body parts and use those messages to help create feelings But nerve cells live in other places too There are millions of them in your heart your gut and even your butt Seriously While those clusters of cells won't help you puzzle through your math problems or plan your soccer strategies they might help you sort out your moods Every year scientists learn more about how your whole body helps to process and express your emotions It's not just your brain even your tiniest parts get involved You might have noticed that your fingers and toes move when you're feeling impatient Your nose wrinkles when you're disgusted by something And your stomach clenches when you get nervous That can mean your brain is sending instructions to these areas Other times those body parts are sending information to your brain And your nerve cells are often talking in both directions at once