Keywords: heartbeat, reaction, pulsion, heart strength
Introduction and objective. Massimo Fagioli is the author of the ‘Human Birth Theory’(1). Throughout his life he has deepened and specified this theory. In 2008, he formulated what he called ‘venti secondi’ (twenty seconds), which describes what happens in the first moments of human life. In 2016, the author further elaborated the dynamic of human birth and the first months of human life, calling ’ventuno parole’ (twenty-one words), the main steps in the arising and development of human psychic reality. In this context, the definition of ‘forza del cuore’ (heart strength) emerges. The aim of our project is to investigate what is meant by ‘forza del cuore’ according to Professor Fagioli and how this concept is related to the dynamic of human birth.
Methodology. For this purpose, Fagioli’s literature has been studied (1-4) and a collection of the author’s quotations on this topic has been created. In addition, the research took advantage of the presentation of the book “Lezioni 2011” (5) and of an article published in the Journal “Il sogno della farfalla”(6). The scientific literature related to the onset of the first heartbeat in the embryo (7,8), the development of the heart and the changes in the heart rate at birth (9, 10) has also been examined.
Results. Fagioli observed that, at two weeks from amphimixis, after the development of the three embryonic leaflets (ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm), the cardiac crescent begins to pulse spontaneously, without stimuli. He defined this ‘movement’ of the biological reality as ‘forza del cuore’ (2). Recent studies have shown that the contractile activity in humans begins as early as 16 days from amphimixis, due to spontaneous single-cell Ca2+oscillations that precede the onset of contraction (7-8). At birth the heart rate decreases in the first seconds after delivery, when the newborn is physiologically flaccid and the exposure to the light activates the central nervous system by the retina, what the author calls ‘venti secondi’ (1-5,11). Fagioli says that this decrease is due to the pulsion, nevertheless the ‘forza del cuore’, resisting to the pulsion, after few seconds increases the heart rate and allows skeletal muscles contraction (2-6). Many studies describe a decrease in the heart rate in the first seconds after birth (9-10). This phenomenon is detected in different ways of delivery. Among the various hypotheses formulated to explain this decrease, the effect of a vagal activity on the heart rate is an interesting link between the brain activation and the heart rate modulation (9-10).
Conclusions The ‘forza del cuore’ is a biological strength that arises spontaneously, without stimuli in the first days of embryonic development. The heart is the first organ which develops in the embryo and it is crucial for the development of the other organs. Immediately after birth,the heart rate decreases during the ‘venti secondi’ when the newborn neuromuscular apparatus is apparently without strength, due to the pulsion. Then, the ‘forza del cuore’ resisting the pulsion, increases the heart rate.
Bibliography
1. Massimo Fagioli, Istinto di morte e conoscenza (1972), L’asino d’oro edizioni, (2010,2017).
2. Massimo Fagioli, Left 2016-2017, L’Asino d’oro edizioni, Ia edizione novembre 2019.
3. Massimo Fagioli, Materia Energia Pensiero, L’asino d’oro edizioni, Ia edizione settembre 2016.
4. Massimo Fagioli, Left 2013, L’Asino d’oro edizioni, Ia edizione novembre 2016, pg XV.
5. Elena Masini, Presentazione di Lezioni 2011 ‘Materia Energia, pensiero’ 15/10/2016Feltrinelli Via Appia Roma
6. Gianfranco De Simone, ‘Teorie e scoperte sulla nascita umana: il linguaggio rinnovato di Massimo Fagioli negli articoli di Left 2016-2017’, Il sogno della Farfalla n°3 Marzo 2020 .
7. Tyser R. et al. Calcium handling precedes cardiac differentiation to initiate the first heartbeat, Elife. 2016 Oct 11;5:e17113. doi: 10.7554/eLife.17113.
8. Richard C.V. Tyser and Shankar Srinivas, The First Heartbeat—Origin of Cardiac Contractile Activity, Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2020;12:a03713, doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a037135.
9. Dawson JA et al. ‘Changes in heart rate in the first minutes after birth’, Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2010;95:F177–F181. doi:10.1136/adc.2009.169102.
10. Bjorland A, et al. Changes in heart rate from 5 s to 5 min after birth in vaginally delivered term newborns with delayed cord clamping. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2020;0:F1–F5. doi:10.1136/archdischild-2020-320179.
11. Polese D, Riccio ML, The newborn reaction to light as the determinant of the brain’s activation at human birth, Frontiers in integrative neuroscience, 2022 Sept. doi:10.3389/fnint.2022.933426
