Brain Game: The Brain Game with a Heart

A brain without a heart? That would take... well, some courage. And a broom.

By changing one letter at a time to create new words - and leaving the other letters in their original spots - I was able to convert BRAIN into HEART in seven steps. Can you do better?

B R A I N _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ H E A R T

Here's one SOLUTION.

ONE SOLUTION:

BRAIN -> BRAID -> BRAND -> BRANS -> BEANS -> BEARS -> HEARS -> HEART.

Please feel free to comment if you find a different (or shorter) solution!