Your brain suppresses perception of heartbeat, for your own good

04. EPFL researchers have discovered that the human brain suppresses the sensory effects of the heartbeat. They believe that this mechanism prevents internal sensations from interfering with the brain's perception of the external world. This mechanism could also have something to do with anxiety disorders. Our heart is constantly beating yet we normally do not feel it. It turns out that our brain is capable of filtering out the cardiac sensation so that it doesn't interfere with the brain's ability to perceive external sensations. For the first time, researchers from the Center for Neuroprosthetics at EPFL have identified this mechanism.