Vagaries of the Vagus

This nerve is the superhighway to and from your organs PREMIUM CONTENT

When writing past BioMedWorks newsletters, on the influences of acid/base state and ectopic SCFA olfactory receptors, I kept seeing The Vagus nerve as a prominent player. This cranial nerve X is the longest and it innervates organs and smooth muscle throughout the body. I did not realize that it carries nearly all of the internal body sensory information back up to the brain. We clinicians do routinely use ‘Vagal Maneuvers’ in urgent care to alter heart rate, Carotid Massage being one:

Also well used is the Valsalva (closed glottis breath) and Diving Reflex (face immersion in cold water). Only recently, though, we began to delineate all the many ways the vagal afferent activity can influence our moods, thinking, motivations, instincts, and metabolism.