The vagus nerve links the brain to such major organs as the heart and lungs.
If you ever believed your mind could make you healthier then that could also be your vagus nerve.
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Studies suggest that the vagus nerve is a key conduit for the stomach to tell the brain when it is satiated.
He theorized that the pain-dulling effect also owed to feedback from the lungs back up through the vagus nerve to the brain.
We're sweating out stress at the gym, too, which also hits the V-spot: Aerobic exercise and yoga enhance vagus nerve output -- as does meditation.
But the vagus nerve doesn't target all areas of the brain, so some severe disorders, such as advanced Parkinson's, may require Medtronic's more invasive deep-brain stimulation method.
It involves an 'intelligent implantable modulator', just a few millimetres across, which is attached using cuff electrodes to the vagus nerve within the peritoneal cavity found in the abdomen.
By connecting leads from Cyberonics' nerve stimulator to extensions of the vagus nerve near the stomach, Roslin hopes to amplify the "I'm full" signal in obese patients, so that they don't overeat.
There is evidence from other studies that good gut bacteria support positive mood too in part because of their effect on the vagus nerve and suggestions that antibiotics dampen this effect.
FORBES: Yes, You Can Think Your Way To A Better, Longer Life!
Common causes of vocal cord paralysis include viral infections, along with tumors or cancers that can compress the recurrent laryngeal nerve, a branch of the vagus nerve (which provides specific innervation to the heart as well as other vital internal organs).
Acting as a messenger between the central nervous system and the major organs, the vagus nerve slows the heart rate (through the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine), calms the immune response (by controlling the release of proteins called cytokines), and communicates with the muscles that control respiration and digestion.
But to reach the physiological root of those sensations, we need to take a close look at the vagus nerve -- actually a bundle of nerves that starts at the base of the brain and branches out through the body, linking up with the facial and vocal muscles and the heart, lungs, and gut.
Among the more promising is Cyberonics' vagus-nerve stimulation approach, pioneered by Jacob Zabara, its scientific founder who's a retired Temple University physiologist.
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