THE MEMORY OF THE HEART BETWEEN NEUROCARDIOLOGY, COGNITIVE DECLINE, AND QUR'ANIC SEMANTICS - Elhem Beddouda - ETHICA SOCIETAS-Rivista di scienze umane e sociali

Beyond Brain-Centered Memory: Toward a Social Theory of Embodied Affectivity

Abstract: This article proposes an interdisciplinary reinterpretation of the notion of the heart’s memory, bringing together neurocardiology, studies on dementia, and Qur’anic semantics. Drawing on research on the intrinsic cardiac nervous system and somatic markers, it argues that memory cannot be reduced to a purely cerebral archive but must be understood as an embodied and relational phenomenon. The analysis of memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease highlights the possible persistence of affective traces even in the absence of narrative recognition. This perspective is further developed through the Qur’anic distinction between qalb (the mutable heart) and fuʾād (the burning heart), which articulates a phenomenology of emotional experience that resonates with contemporary neuroscientific insights. The aim is to propose a social theory of affective memory as an intersection of body, language, and relational bonds.

Keywords: #memoryoftheheart #neurocardiology #Alzheimer’sdisease #embodiedaffectivity #qalb #fuʾād #socialmemory #ElhemBeddouda #ethicasocietas #ethicasocietasjournal #scientificjournal #humanities #socialsciences #ethicasocietasupli

Elhem Beddouda, is a professional educator with a degree in Education and Training Sciences from the University of Parma, where she completed a thesis entitled Islam and Educational Function: Perspectives on Religious Assistance in Prison. She is currently enrolled in the Global Studies for Sustainable Local and International Development and Cooperation program at the same university.

versione italiana

The Heart as an “Intelligent” Organ: Beyond Mechanicism

The modern representation of the heart as a mere hemodynamic pump has been increasingly challenged by developments in neurocardiology. The identification of an intrinsic cardiac nervous system—a neural network capable of autonomously modulating cardiac rhythm—has reopened the question of the heart’s role in emotional and cognitive regulation.

The heart constantly communicates with the brain through afferent and efferent pathways, particularly via the vagus nerve. Variations in heart rate variability (HRV) are associated with emotional states and the capacity for self-regulation. From this perspective, the body is not a passive executor of cortical commands but an active participant in the construction of experience.

Research on somatic markers shows that decisions and memories are shaped by bodily states that function as affective traces. Memory, therefore, is not merely symbolic representation but the sedimentation of neurophysiological configurations.

For the social sciences, this implies moving beyond the mind/body dichotomy: affectivity emerges as an embodied phenomenon that participates in the formation of identity and social bonds.

Memory Loss and the Persistence of Affect: The Case of Dementia

The notion of memory of the heart becomes particularly significant in contexts of cognitive decline such as Alzheimer’s disease. In these conditions, damage to the hippocampus compromises episodic and autobiographical memory: individuals may no longer recall shared events, names, or relational roles.

However, clinical observations suggest that the loss of narrative recognition does not necessarily entail the disappearance of emotional response. A person may fail to identify their partner, yet still display signs of positive regulation—calmness, smiling, reduced anxiety—in their presence.

This dissociation points to an analytical distinction between:

declarative memory, vulnerable to neurological degeneration;
relational memory, grounded in shared practices and routines;
embodied affective memory, rooted in deep bodily and emotional circuits.

In this sense, love is not merely a mnemonic content but a regulatory configuration sedimented over time. Even when autobiographical narration dissolves, a form of bodily familiarity may persist.

The memory of the heart thus does not refer to an alternative storage of memories, but to the persistence of affective traces that exceed language.

Qalb and Fuʾād: A Qur’anic Phenomenology of the Heart

Qur’anic language offers a semantic distinction that enriches this analysis. The term qalb, derived from a root meaning “to turn” or “to transform,” designates the heart as the site of change, discernment, and potential deviation.

Classical reflection distinguishes between the physical heart and a subtle heart, understood as the locus of inner knowledge and moral responsibility.

The term fuʾād, by contrast, is associated with the imagery of fire and burning. It refers to the heart as traversed by emotional intensity, vulnerable and ardent. In Qur’an 28:10, the fuʾād of Moses’ mother is described as “emptied,” evoking a condition of profound destabilization alongside persistent affective intensity.

This distinction does not oppose cognition and emotion but intertwines them: the heart knows through intensity, and intensity leaves a trace.

Toward a Social Theory of Affective Memory

By bringing together neurocardiological research, the clinical study of dementia, and Qur’anic semantics, a theoretical convergence emerges: memory is not only representation but embodied relation.

The dissolution of narrative memory, as observed in advanced Alzheimer’s, does not necessarily imply the disappearance of relational bonds. If qalb can be associated with the cognitive and transformative dimension—vulnerable to degeneration—fuʾād represents the persistence of affective intensity.

For the social sciences, this suggests three implications:

rethinking identity as a relational configuration beyond autobiographical narrative;
recognizing the body as an archive of affective practices and regulatory patterns;
considering religious language as a repository of phenomenological knowledge about human experience.

The memory of the heart can thus be reinterpreted as an analytical category capable of naming the survival of relational bonds beyond the loss of naming.

Conclusion

The question of whether a person who has lost their memory can still remember a loved one does not admit a simple answer. They may no longer recognize, name, or situate that person within their biography. And yet, they may still experience an affective modulation that orients the body toward calm, trust, and familiarity.

The memory of the heart is not a biological myth, but a way of describing this excess of affect over narrative. At this intersection of science, clinical practice, and symbolic language, it offers the social sciences a powerful concept for thinking about the persistence of relational bonds beyond the fragility of the mind.

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