This “electric super highway” helps control everything from our breathing to our immune system. Can stimulating it make a difference in physical and mental health?
Meanwhile, scientific interest in vagus nerve stimulation is exploding, with studies examining it as a potential treatment for everything from obesity to depression, arthritis and Covid-related fatigue. So what exactly is a vagus nerve and is all the hype justified?
The vagus nerve is actually a pair of nerves that serve as a two-way communication channel between the brain and the heart, lungs and abdominal organs, as well as structures such as the esophagus and voice box, helping to control involuntary processes including breathing, heart rate, digestion and immune responses. They are also an important part of the parasympathetic nervous system, which regulates “rest and digestion” processes and relaxes the body after periods of stress or danger that activate our sympathetic “fight or flight” responses.
Nowadays, vagus nerve stimulators are increasingly being studied as an alternative to antidepressants in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Surgically implanted pacemakers are also an approved treatment for epilepsy – although they seem to work only in some patients.
Continue reading at The Guardian from Linda Geddes
