'Heartbreak leave' | What becomes of the broken hearted... in the workplace?

In his somewhat ambitious sounding 1884 essay “What is an emotion?”, philosopher and psychologist William James, regarded by many as the founder of American psychology, argued the case that emotions are inextricably linked to bodily responses.

Physiological changes are the raw material of emotion, he proffered, to which the brain then assigns meaning, like fear, surprise, or excitement.

Numerous studies have suggested that the heart is indeed capable of sending fear-inducing signals to the brain. But because the connection between the heart and brain is a two-way street, it’s difficult to determine exactly what is driving what.

“Is the emotion what causes the heart rate to change or is [the emotion] a consequence of the changing heart rate?”, asks Sarah Garfinkel, a cognitive neuroscientist at University College London.