At this oddly differing time, a lot of focus is coming on how to keep ourselves calm. How to casually make our days less heightened in emotion or anxiety and how to live our best life effectively keeping our ‘self’ well. Science is always researching new ways to maximise our health, utilise our body, fulfil our potential and capacity of brain function. There is always more to explore. An area of interest and investigative research is the VAGUS NERVE and how vital it’s role is in regulating our systems, our organs and generally monitoring discomfort and dis-ease in our body.
The VAGUS NERVE is #10 of 12 Cranial Nerves in the body that connect the organs of the body via an intricate and complex nerve root system. Like something out of AVATAR, the Vagus Nerve is a deeply intricate network of roots that act like a highway for nerve impulses and information, regulating most, if not all of the functions and systems of the body. Sensory information from the skin, digestive control (including obesity and eating disorders), mood disorders, degenerative motor sensory conditions such as Parkinsons, Alzheimers, endocrine activity and hormone release… the list is exhaustive.
The Vagus Nerve (#10) is the longest and most complex of the 12 Cranial Nerves and scientists have been utilising its effects since the late 1990’s to treat conditions such as epilepsy and depression. More recent investigation into how effective it can be to downgrade conditions such as cluster headaches, Parkinsons symptoms, bowel disease, arthritis and mood disorders have been a popular area of research and understanding as medical professionals try to assist human suffering.
The intricacy of #10 is such that research is investigating its wide reaching effects into other conditions which include mood, digestion and even emotional conditions. Dr Tiffany Field of the Touch Institute at the University of Miami talks about how far reaching #10 is in terms of its regulatory effect on systems in the body. “More and more, we’re learning how critical vagal activity is to attention and mood,” says Field and she talks about how stimulation of the Vagus Nerve can effect memory, hyperactivity disorders such as ADHD and also in the treatment of depression.
If we look at this aspect more fundamentally we can begin to see how Vagal Tone (acitivity of our Vagus Nerve) influences our primary Sympathetic/Parasympathetic axis. Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) controls our fight/flight reaction. It heightens our awareness, creates inflammation and pumps blood and nutrients to our muscles, eyes and skin. Effectively turning us ‘ON’ in preparation to fight or flee. The Parasympathetic system (PNS) downgrades these responses and keeps us calm and quiet, sending blood to our digestive system, our immune function and taking care of our body’s homeostasis (balance). Stephen Silberstein, MD, a professor of neurology and Director of the Headache Centre at Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals sums it up nicely . “The sympathetic nervous system is fight or flight, while the parasympathetic nervous system is more chill out”. Vagal Nerve stimulation helps us to access our chill mode downgrading our stress responses. If we can manipulate our vagal tone then it is possible that we can strive to achieve a better balance of emotional and physical responses to stress and best maintain a healthy well-being state. Fundamentally what many of us are concerned with right now.
In the 1990’s, Vagal Nerve Stimulation (VNS) was carried out by inserting an electrical implant in the chest that issued a frequency that stimulated the Vagus Nerve. Used mainly to treat epilepsy and depression, the success of these initial forays into electrobiology have yielded more interest in how to affect our Vagal Tone and achieve better health. However we don’t need to insert things into our chest. There are other ways to access and stimulate our Vagus Nerve.
As an example let’s look at slowing our heart rate. Slow diaggramatic (of the diaphragm) breathing has a direct link with our heart rate via our Vagus Nerve. When we breathe in, our lung stretch receptors send a message via the Vagus Nerve to the brain and when we breathe out the brain sends signals directly to the heart to slow down. “Vagal activity is highest, and heart rate lowest, when you’re exhaling” according to Lucy Norcliffe-Kaufmann, Associate Professor of Neurology at NYU-Langone. This fundamental action of slow deep breathing can bring about calming and parasympathetic activity in the body. It literally slows us down. This explains the science behind such meditative breath practices employed by ancient cultures such as yoga, qi-gong and tai-chi practitioners. Even prayer has an element of accessing this breath and parasympathetic activation. Say your rosaries people!
Hugs make a difference. Touch is considered one of the great indicators in vagal tone as it is accessed via the skin, our largest organ. Dr Field talks about how touch can influence our vagal tone. The pressure on the skin triggers a response in our vagal tone that regulates the release of oxytocin and lowering heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol. This is supported by Dr. Edmund Rolls and his colleagues at Oxford University’s Centre for Computational Neuroscience who found that pleasant touch activates the brain’s orbitofrontal cortex (area related to reward and decision making). Now the rather amusing factor of pressure is cited by both researchers stating that ‘firm and not flimsy touch’ is the best way to stimulate vagal tone. Painful touch is not beneficial for this process and neither is flimsy touch. “You need to have moderate pressure… a moderate handshake feels better than a flimsy shake, or a bear hug feels better than a superficial hug — the pressure receptors are stimulated” Field states. (Yes - I am taking note of this factor of pressure in terms of stimulating vagal tone.)
Humming is another way to activate our Vagus nerve. #10 is directly linked to our vocal chords and thus humming a song or the action of humming a meitative sound such as ‘OM’ stimulates the vagus nerve. In the same vein, speaking can also help. But this also supports why prayer or meditation with mantras can be of great benefit to accessing our parasympathetic system - proving once again that these practices have a scientific basis.
It is worth noting that in some cases, Vagal Nerve Stimulation may be a contraindication. The Vagus Nerve is directly linked to the heart and has a specific effect on heart rate, regulating it in times of stress response and heightened pulmonary activity. Over stimulation of the Vagus nerve in instances of high stress can drop the heart rate too quickly and result in a rapid decrease in blood pressure that will cause someone to faint. Not the ideal scenario.
Cortisol and adrenaline are one of the big factors to accessing or fight/flight response. Too many of us are amped up on adrenalin or have too much inflammatory coritsol in our system from our workplace stresses, high intensity exercise programs, coffee and pre workout creatine mixtures, energy drinks, you could apply this factor to so much that is part of our western hyper intense lifestyles. Vagal tone exercises a large degree of control on this axis and can be like a giant dog putting its very firm paw on our inner self saying STOP. The vagus nerve acts like a series of sentinels, ready to sense the inherent rise in cortisol or adrenaline in the body that are precursors to inflammation. The Vagus Nerve tells the brain to send out anti-inflammatory agents (acetylcholine) to downgrade the inflammatory response. This has been particularly effective in helping to treat rheumatoid arthritis and the role of #10 in regulating this condition is being further explored.
SO understanding this axis is a field of great interest, but it also serves as a supporter for us to invest in those activities that do help us to control our system for the better. Regular practices and actions as listed above can have a huge impact on our well-being and our mind-body balance. Science says so and is working on better ways to utilise this axis for a myriad of conditions. SO - breathe, meditate, pray, touch, hug and hum - they are all good for you.
https://elemental.medium.com/science-confirms-that-the-vagus-nerve-is-key-to-well-being-c23fab90e211
““There’s a massive bioelectrical and biochemical series of events that the vagus nerve is responsible for, and all that is almost impossible to map.””
