The Biochemistry of Emotions – By Dr. K. Anil Kumar

“You have to make sincere efforts to teach the topics in your respective subjects by appropriately synthesizing them with Swami’s teachings. One example, how does a chemistry teacher teach chemistry? They teach in the laboratory that when they mix chemicals, what reactions have taken place and how colors change. Chemistry is not just associated with chemicals and the resulting changes and reactions. When it is viewed from a spiritual perspective, it becomes ‘Raso Vai Saha’, meaning the “Essence of Divinity”…….. In other words, these living creatures are depending on plants, plants depend on soil, soil depends on the solid matter, and the solid matter is dependent on the “essence”. We are neglecting the source. Here is a glass of water. For water there should be a container – a vessel. Without container, water cannot be there. Similarly, the basis for the Science of “essence” – Chemistry is Divinity.”

(Divine Discourse to the Faculty of SSSIHL, Prasanthi Nilayam Campus on 11.03.1990)

Anil Kumar with Sri Sathya Sai on Convocation Day - November 22, 1990

A judicious blending of moral, ethical and spiritual values with the teaching of science subjects is very much essential. This approach helps to inculcate a sense of sacrifice among students. Only then the students will be able to harmonize scientific temper with Human Values and use this knowledge as a ‘Gift Of God’, for the all round development of the society they live in. Here in, the teachers have to take up the dual responsibility of developing academic excellence alongside nurturing Human Values among students. 

By definition, Science is the pursuit of TRUTH, the Whole Truth; therefore, unless the student of Science develops an ability to discern the within along with his ability to discover, measure and analyze the tangible, his training is not complete. One cannot isolate something and turn it into a Science and say that one’s study stops there; truly, it is a perspective of Reality and all aspects of it have to be taken into account. Actual pursuit of Science should give adequate attention to the basis of existence and thus build a stable super-structure. Hence, we only need to change our perspective of reality and accept a more holistic approach.

The fascinating world of the molecules, their dynamics, three-dimensional structure, interactions, aggregation, self-assembly and self-replication are some of the major interests of the discipline of Chemistry. The myriad variety, the awesome complexity and the spontaneity of the natural processes are all predominantly based on molecular transformations. Molecular basis of the biological processes is now well researched. Thus this branch of science gives a ringside view to appreciate the wondrous ways of NATURE.

Sri Sathya Sai in the Chemistry Lab at the Prasanthi Nilayam Campus

Most of the advances in Chemistry (Supramolecular chemistry) are beginning to reaffirm our ancient wisdom. It is necessary that we draw the attention of students to this correlation of Scriptural statements with scientific discoveries during the course of regular classroom teaching. An illustrative example:

Scriptural Statement:

“Yad Bhavam Tad Bhavati.” (As you think so you become)

“God if you think, God you are;

Dust if you think, dust you are;

Verily thoughts are what you become.”

Scientific Interpretation: Biochemistry of Emotions.

Thinking was always associated with material changes and activities in the brain and the connected nervous system. Neurobiologists Andrew Newberg and Eugene d’Aquili have conducted research in the specialized field of ‘neurotheology’ which suggest that ‘religion is intimately interwoven with human biology’. Their extensive observations of praying Franciscan nuns and meditating Buddhist monks reveal that certain religious experiences like meditation and prayer are linked to heightened activity and changes in the material structure of the brain and nervous system.

It seems that the emotions of Love, Loss and Joy can all be invoked directly with brain chemicals, and medical cases where people have suffered brain damage, or are genetically incapable of producing or reacting to certain neurotransmitter chemicals enables us to pinpoint which emotions are caused by which neurotransmitters. As a result there is a huge catalogue of chemical treatments for various brain disorders. 

Over the years it has been observed that many house painters, garage mechanics, hair salon workers, printers and others, who continually breathe chemical fumes on the job, have altered brain activities. This results in drastically altered behavior. Sudden anger, irritability and even violence have been linked to brain allergies. A Health Recovery Center published study showed 56% of alcoholic clients were sensitive to chemicals in the environment. The most common offender was ethanol, contained in a wide range of products:

• Natural gas: Gasoline 

• Some paints: Automobile exhaust

• Alcohols: Soft plastics (new car odors)

• Certain hand lotions and perfumes: Disinfectant cleaners

• Tobacco smoke: Hydrocarbons

The most common reactions were fatigue, exhaustion, spaciness, irritability, mental confusion and depression. The magnitude and severity of these responses was startling: sudden intense anger, tears and sobbing, falling asleep, the sudden inability to think or speak coherently.

Just as these examples go to prove the effect of chemicals from our environment altering our emotions, it is also becoming increasingly clear that our emotions themselves alter the brain chemistry. The biochemistry of anger, resentment and stress, in other words, the biochemistry of fear, is highly addictive. It is called fight/flight chemistry. Fight/flight chemistry involves the release of adrenaline; a powerful, addictive drug. Adrenaline triggers a number of biochemical reactions which enhance the neurotransmitter cascade, increasing serotonin, natural opioids, gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), and dopamine levels in the brain. Similar to these prominent emotions, other emotions too alter brain chemistry, thereby altering the biochemistry of the whole body. Hence, at any given instance of time “our body is a 3D image of our thoughts.”

Present day neuroscience is beginning to understand this at greater depth. In fact, two of the most compelling features of the last twenty years have been dramatic achievements in the laboratory and striking advances in biomedical technology. Together, they have literally extended the frontiers of the mind by embodying emotions in the biology of the brain more successfully than ever before and by creating the possibility of identifying the intricate interconnections between brain-based emotions and the functioning of the neuroendocrine and immune systems. Spectacular developments in laboratory science and visualization technology have been essential components of the explosive development of neuroscience, a field which has quickly become one of the most respected, exciting and actively pursued in medicine. Within the neurosciences an area variously called “psychoneuroimmunology” [For a brief historical overview, see Ruth Lloyd, Explorations in Psychoneuroimmunology (Orlando, FL: Grune & Stratton, 1987), Chapt. 1] and “neuroimmunomodulation” [Robert Ader, Nicholas Cohen, David L. Felten, “Editorial: Brain, Behavior, and Immunity,” Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 1 (1987): 5] has recently emerged which seems on the verge of tracing the pathways between emotions and disease whose connections had long been glimpsed in clinical contexts by physicians ranging from Galen to Freud and from Maimonides to Alexander. 

Dr. Anil Kumar welcoming Sri Sathya Sai at the Chemistry Lab in the Prasanthi Nilayam Campus

Powerful new imaging techniques have supported and made possible the recent emphasis on the anatomical substrates of emotion. The most impressive techniques are computer assisted tomography (CAT scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET scans), singlephoton emission computed tomography (SPECT), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). SPECT, PET and fMRI are valuable tools, at this point employed primarily in research settings to determine physiological and biochemical variations in brain activity, including anatomically-localized alterations in metabolism and neurochemical functioning which are visualized as they occur [Marcus E. Raichle, “Visualizing the Mind”, Scientific American, 270 (April, 1994): 58-64]. Many of the achievements in the neurosciences have come at the intersection of this new imaging technology with recent breakthroughs in neurochemistry. As one of neurochemistry’s leaders, Solomon Snyder, has said, “The glue that has brought together findings from so many different disciplines into a coherent concept of brain function is chemistry. Indeed the revolution is more precisely characterized as a revolution in ‘molecular neuroscience’” [Solomon H. Snyder, “Drugs, Neurotransmitters, and the Brain,” in Pietro Corsi, ed., The Enchanted Loom: Chapters in the History of Neuroscience (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), p. 299]. Neuroscientists thus seem to be closing in on both the biochemical mechanisms and the anatomical architecture of emotional expression in specific structures of the brain. 

Dr. Anil Kumar and his brother Dr. Devsen offering Arati to Sri Sathya Sai

Now it is certain that particular molecules of the immune system (cytokines or interleukins) signal areas of the brain directly as well as exert influences on peripheral parts of the nervous system such as the vagus nerve. This rigorously demonstrated “cross-talk” between the immune and neuroendocrine systems has won over neuroscientists and gained converts among the immunologists themselves. Even more important, it provides the scientific basis for understanding - at long last - how emotions can in fact influence the onset, course, and remission of disease. It may be that this “brave new area” will finally validate long held beliefs about emotions and disease. Hence, thoughts have a direct effect on the biochemical transformations in the body. Therefore healthy, joyous and beneficial thoughts lead to a healthy body and thence to a productive life. In effect we are beginning to perceive the ancient wisdom, that human body is a three dimensional presentation of our thoughts. The same is echoed by Mani Bhaumik, in his book, “Code name GOD”. I quote: “everyman mystic whose humor kept me out of the darker waters of introspection - each, in his own way, echoed the lessons I had learned from Mohandas Gandhi and passionately reaffirmed his assertion that we become what we think” [Code name GOD, Mani Bhaumik, Penguin Books, London, England, 2005, p116].

Hence, it becomes imperative that we WATCH our Thoughts, keep them sober and good in order to maintain Good Health.

- Dr. K. Anil Kumar

Student and Research Scholar (1985-1995); 
Formerly Faculty Member, Department of Chemistry

Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning

Prasanthi Nilayam Campus

Currently, Chief Technology Officer, Nagarjuna Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd.

Hyderabad

Source: Vidyagiri: Divine Vision 2006