According to a new study published in the Nature journal, both the brain and the heart work in tandem to produce anxiety. The study detangled the link between whether emotions drive bodily functions or vice versa and revealed that while fear and anxiety can make one’s heart beat faster, the reverse is also true.

To understand this relationship, the team increased the heart rate of a test subject. The result of the study showed that speeding up the heart rate made otherwise calm subjects act more anxious.

The researchers claimed that lowering heart rate can help in treating mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. In the study, the researcher engineered light-sensitive heart cells. When red lights were shined on the light-sensitive cells, the heart muscles fired up. 

(Source: https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=1056371 )