Control Your Vagus Nerve to Improve Mood, Alertness & Neuroplasticity

00:00:00.000 | Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.

00:00:05.720 | I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.

00:00:14.960 | Today we're discussing the vagus nerve.

00:00:17.660 | The vagus nerve, or what neuroanatomists call cranial nerve 10, is an extremely interesting nerve

00:00:24.140 | because when we hear the word nerve, we often think of a small, you know, connection between one thing and another,

00:00:30.680 | the wires of the nerve, which of course we call axons.

00:00:33.720 | If you didn't know that, now you know they're called axons.

00:00:36.360 | But actually, the cranial nerve is an extensive pathway.

00:00:40.260 | It's a whole set of connections that link the brain and body.

00:00:43.440 | In fact, in many respects, it looks kind of like its own nervous system

00:00:48.760 | within the traditional nervous system of the brain and the spinal cord,

00:00:52.460 | the connections between spinal cord and muscle.

00:00:55.000 | The vagus nerve is so vast.

00:00:57.280 | It spreads out through so much of the body.

00:00:59.780 | And as you'll learn today, it's connected to so many interesting different brain areas

00:01:04.500 | and has so many interesting different functions that it deserves,

00:01:08.500 | well, an entire episode of this podcast.

00:01:10.780 | The other great thing about the vagus nerve is it is highly actionable,

00:01:15.140 | meaning what you will learn today,

00:01:17.280 | if you already know something about the vagus nerve,

00:01:19.840 | is going to change what you know and believe about the vagus nerve.

00:01:22.960 | What you hear today will also,

00:01:25.040 | if you don't know or you're not familiar with the vagus nerve,

00:01:28.060 | is going to educate you on the latest about the vagus nerve.

00:01:31.220 | We've learned a lot about the vagus nerve

00:01:33.060 | and ways to control the vagus nerve in the last few years.

00:01:35.580 | And finally, and perhaps most importantly,

00:01:38.220 | the information that you're going to learn today

00:01:40.300 | includes actionable tools that will, for instance,

00:01:43.140 | allow you to make yourself more alert when you want to,

00:01:46.640 | without the use of pharmacology.

00:01:48.200 | It will allow you to calm yourself down quickly when you want to,

00:01:52.200 | on demand and quickly,

00:01:53.720 | without the use of pharmacology or devices.

00:01:56.740 | And it will also allow you to alter your mood for the better

00:02:01.200 | and indeed to improve your ability to learn.

00:02:04.480 | The vagus nerve is that important.

00:02:06.080 | It's involved in that many different things.

00:02:08.000 | And the pathways of the vagus nerve,

00:02:09.880 | as I mentioned,

00:02:10.460 | have been charted in more detail in recent years.

00:02:13.080 | And the ways that we can get into the vagus nerve

00:02:15.920 | and stimulate its actions in specific ways

00:02:18.440 | to achieve those endpoints of improved mood,

00:02:20.960 | deeper relaxation,

00:02:22.340 | fast relaxation,

00:02:23.680 | elevated levels of alertness,

00:02:25.280 | and on and on are now very well understood.

00:02:28.680 | So as you can probably tell,

00:02:30.520 | I'm extremely excited about today's episode

00:02:32.560 | because the vagus nerve

00:02:33.700 | is just one of the most fascinating aspects

00:02:35.760 | to our nervous system.

00:02:36.780 | You have one,

00:02:37.900 | I have one.

00:02:38.920 | So let's figure out how they work

00:02:40.620 | and how to put it to work for the better.

00:02:42.780 | Before we begin,

00:02:43.960 | I'd like to emphasize that this podcast

00:02:45.600 | is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford.

00:02:47.820 | It is, however,

00:02:48.960 | part of my desire and effort

00:02:50.200 | to bring zero cost to consumer information

00:02:52.360 | about science and science-related tools

00:02:54.240 | to the general public.

00:02:55.420 | In keeping with that theme,

00:02:56.800 | today's episode does include sponsors.

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00:03:20.740 | The electrolytes,

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00:03:23.200 | are vital for functioning

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00:05:41.060 | Okay, let's get familiar

00:05:42.420 | with the vagus nerve.

00:05:43.680 | The vagus nerve

00:05:44.980 | is cranial nerve 10.

00:05:46.480 | The vagus nerve

00:05:47.740 | is very different

00:05:48.580 | than the other cranial nerves

00:05:49.720 | because whereas

00:05:50.660 | it does have connections

00:05:51.760 | with areas

00:05:52.500 | on the face,

00:05:53.620 | head,

00:05:54.220 | and neck,

00:05:54.900 | and deep

00:05:56.040 | to those areas too,

00:05:56.940 | so throat,

00:05:57.520 | et cetera,

00:05:57.980 | it also has connections

00:05:59.620 | or I should say

00:06:00.420 | it receives

00:06:01.500 | and provides connections

00:06:03.360 | to areas

00:06:04.360 | within the body.

00:06:05.580 | In fact,

00:06:06.040 | it has connections

00:06:06.700 | with the head area,

00:06:07.620 | the neck area,

00:06:09.080 | the chest area,

00:06:10.580 | the abdomen,

00:06:11.720 | and even a bit lower

00:06:13.060 | into the lower intestines.

00:06:14.360 | So the vagus nerve

00:06:16.260 | is super extensive

00:06:17.860 | in terms of its outputs

00:06:19.260 | and its inputs.

00:06:20.920 | And I'll explain

00:06:21.720 | what I mean by outputs

00:06:22.600 | and inputs

00:06:23.040 | in just a moment.

00:06:23.780 | But what's very useful

00:06:25.220 | to understand

00:06:26.040 | and visualize

00:06:26.580 | in your mind a bit

00:06:27.500 | anytime we're talking

00:06:28.520 | about the vagus nerve

00:06:29.360 | is we're talking

00:06:30.400 | about a nerve

00:06:31.040 | of many,

00:06:32.220 | many different pathways

00:06:33.180 | that both receives

00:06:35.020 | and provides information

00:06:36.820 | from essentially

00:06:37.720 | all areas of the body

00:06:39.120 | down to the base

00:06:39.980 | of your pelvis.

00:06:40.660 | And that stands

00:06:41.840 | in stark contrast

00:06:42.800 | from the other cranial nerves

00:06:44.080 | which tend

00:06:44.920 | to receive information

00:06:46.000 | from restricted areas

00:06:48.000 | of the body,

00:06:48.660 | most typically

00:06:49.320 | the head

00:06:50.400 | and neck area,

00:06:51.520 | and that tend

00:06:53.140 | to provide connections

00:06:54.540 | to the head

00:06:55.700 | and neck area.

00:06:56.540 | The word vagus

00:06:57.880 | actually translates

00:06:58.920 | more or less

00:06:59.420 | to vagabond,

00:07:00.380 | which means wandering.

00:07:01.900 | So early neuroanatomists

00:07:03.040 | saw that this nerve

00:07:04.080 | cranial nerve 10

00:07:04.960 | had connections

00:07:06.300 | to large areas

00:07:07.640 | of the body

00:07:08.200 | and head

00:07:08.720 | and neck

00:07:09.260 | and received inputs

00:07:10.180 | from lots of areas

00:07:11.600 | of the body

00:07:12.140 | and decided to call it

00:07:13.240 | essentially

00:07:13.660 | the vagabond nerve

00:07:14.880 | or the vagus nerve.

00:07:16.200 | Now, even though

00:07:16.980 | the word vagabond

00:07:17.940 | means essentially wandering

00:07:19.460 | and the word wandering

00:07:20.880 | kind of suggests random,

00:07:22.260 | there is nothing random

00:07:23.780 | about the wiring

00:07:24.660 | of the vagus nerve.

00:07:25.700 | The vagus nerve

00:07:26.840 | is incredibly precise

00:07:28.520 | in terms of

00:07:29.640 | where it receives

00:07:30.840 | information from

00:07:31.760 | and where it provides

00:07:32.940 | information to.

00:07:33.920 | Now, I want to be very clear

00:07:35.440 | what I mean about

00:07:36.060 | information, okay?

00:07:37.640 | If you're a biologist,

00:07:38.800 | you'll probably understand

00:07:39.840 | some of this.

00:07:40.400 | If you're not,

00:07:41.460 | and I have to assume

00:07:42.680 | most of you are not,

00:07:43.600 | it's still very important

00:07:45.340 | that you understand

00:07:46.120 | and it's very easy

00:07:47.140 | to understand

00:07:47.780 | that your nervous system,

00:07:49.160 | your brain,

00:07:49.700 | spinal cord,

00:07:50.520 | and of course,

00:07:51.560 | your nervous system

00:07:52.120 | includes all these

00:07:52.720 | cranial nerves,

00:07:53.300 | including the vagus nerve,

00:07:54.340 | are carrying different

00:07:55.940 | types of information

00:07:56.840 | along different pathways,

00:07:57.940 | different neurons

00:07:58.860 | or different nerve cells

00:08:00.000 | within the vagus nerve,

00:08:01.200 | for instance,

00:08:01.740 | are receiving

00:08:03.460 | or giving different types

00:08:04.940 | of information

00:08:05.520 | for different purposes.

00:08:06.460 | For instance,

00:08:08.200 | there is sensory information

00:08:10.700 | carried by neurons,

00:08:11.780 | nerve cells,

00:08:12.460 | in your nervous system.

00:08:13.360 | Sensory information

00:08:15.120 | is the kind of information

00:08:16.200 | that, for instance,

00:08:16.960 | converts light

00:08:18.880 | into electrical signals

00:08:20.880 | at the level of your eyes.

00:08:22.100 | Then your eyes

00:08:22.980 | are providing information

00:08:23.960 | to the brain

00:08:24.620 | about what's out

00:08:25.260 | in the visual world.

00:08:26.040 | That's sensory information.

00:08:27.780 | The same could be said

00:08:29.500 | for sound waves.

00:08:31.020 | That's sensory information

00:08:32.640 | that your auditory system

00:08:33.900 | converts to basically

00:08:35.580 | your understanding

00:08:36.140 | of speech

00:08:36.740 | and sound

00:08:37.240 | and music,

00:08:37.720 | et cetera.

00:08:38.200 | Other neurons

00:08:39.540 | control motor functions,

00:08:41.000 | literally,

00:08:41.580 | the movement of your limbs

00:08:43.100 | by controlling contraction

00:08:44.400 | of your muscles

00:08:45.100 | or the movement

00:08:46.140 | of your lips

00:08:46.780 | or the closing

00:08:47.860 | or opening

00:08:49.200 | of your airways,

00:08:50.000 | for instance.

00:08:51.500 | So motor information

00:08:53.760 | of course can be seen

00:08:55.420 | on the surface of the body.

00:08:56.380 | I'm moving my hands now.

00:08:57.360 | I'm moving my mouth.

00:08:58.080 | You don't even need

00:08:58.660 | to see me do that

00:08:59.320 | to know that I'm doing that.

00:09:00.380 | But within our body,

00:09:02.740 | we have organs

00:09:03.440 | that also need

00:09:04.600 | motor control.

00:09:05.640 | For instance,

00:09:06.740 | our gut.

00:09:07.980 | Our gut is not just

00:09:09.280 | a passive tube

00:09:10.320 | through which food moves.

00:09:11.600 | The gut is contracting

00:09:13.020 | and relaxing.

00:09:13.880 | It's moving food through

00:09:15.360 | from one end

00:09:16.160 | to the other.

00:09:16.660 | Okay.

00:09:17.300 | We have our pancreas.

00:09:19.580 | We have our liver.

00:09:20.620 | We have our spleen

00:09:21.560 | and you might think,

00:09:22.160 | oh, well,

00:09:22.500 | those are sort of

00:09:23.040 | vegetative organs.

00:09:23.860 | They just kind of sit there.

00:09:24.840 | Maybe the cells do stuff,

00:09:26.240 | but they don't move much.

00:09:27.100 | But actually,

00:09:27.940 | your spleen

00:09:29.000 | even has a contractile ability

00:09:30.660 | so it can contract

00:09:31.760 | to release red blood cells

00:09:33.000 | or immune cells

00:09:33.840 | into circulation

00:09:34.840 | and so on and so forth.

00:09:35.980 | Different organs,

00:09:37.980 | including your muscles,

00:09:39.080 | but other organs as well,

00:09:40.460 | need instructions

00:09:41.860 | as to when they should move,

00:09:44.200 | when they should contract,

00:09:45.240 | when they should relax.

00:09:46.220 | So we have sensory information

00:09:47.860 | that's carried by

00:09:48.720 | essentially one set

00:09:50.280 | of neurons

00:09:50.720 | in our nervous system.

00:09:51.620 | So carrying light information

00:09:53.620 | or sound information,

00:09:54.740 | or as you'll see

00:09:55.660 | in a few minutes,

00:09:56.180 | chemical information

00:09:57.220 | about the acidity

00:09:58.420 | of the gut,

00:09:58.960 | for instance.

00:09:59.980 | And we have neurons

00:10:02.060 | that are considered

00:10:03.000 | motor neurons.

00:10:04.080 | They control

00:10:04.840 | the contraction of muscles

00:10:05.980 | or the contraction

00:10:06.740 | of these different organs

00:10:07.800 | or the encouragement

00:10:09.220 | for different aspects

00:10:11.060 | of the digestive tract

00:10:12.040 | to contract

00:10:12.700 | or relax

00:10:13.300 | to move food along.

00:10:14.420 | Okay,

00:10:14.940 | so we've got sensory neurons

00:10:16.300 | and we have motor neurons.

00:10:17.500 | And then there are

00:10:18.160 | a lot of other neurons

00:10:18.940 | as well

00:10:19.440 | that we call

00:10:19.960 | modulatory neurons

00:10:21.020 | that kind of adjust

00:10:22.140 | the balance

00:10:22.840 | between the sensory information

00:10:24.140 | and motor information.

00:10:25.140 | We aren't going

00:10:25.640 | to talk so much today

00:10:26.520 | about modulatory neurons,

00:10:28.060 | but they are

00:10:28.760 | an important third category

00:10:30.160 | of neuron

00:10:30.740 | in the nervous system.

00:10:31.620 | Now,

00:10:32.400 | why am I telling you

00:10:33.120 | all this stuff

00:10:33.500 | about sensory and motor?

00:10:34.500 | Because the vagus nerve

00:10:36.300 | is also unique

00:10:37.360 | in that it is

00:10:38.160 | both a sensory pathway

00:10:39.780 | and a motor pathway.

00:10:41.880 | And this is something

00:10:43.180 | that most discussions

00:10:44.360 | about the vagus nerve,

00:10:45.280 | in fact,

00:10:45.660 | I would say

00:10:46.280 | 99% of discussions

00:10:48.880 | about the vagus nerve

00:10:49.740 | that you see online

00:10:50.780 | or when you hear about,

00:10:52.100 | forgive me,

00:10:52.880 | in your yoga classes,

00:10:53.920 | by the way,

00:10:54.360 | I'm going to touch on

00:10:55.160 | how yoga

00:10:56.100 | and ancient yogic practices

00:10:58.000 | actually managed

00:10:59.040 | to tease apart

00:10:59.640 | some very important functions

00:11:00.980 | of the vagus nerve

00:11:01.700 | without knowing

00:11:02.220 | any of the underlying mechanisms.

00:11:03.560 | But it is the case

00:11:04.880 | that most of the time

00:11:05.880 | when you hear

00:11:06.340 | about the vagus nerve

00:11:07.220 | out there

00:11:07.780 | in the general world

00:11:09.240 | or in the media,

00:11:09.900 | it's about the vagus nerve

00:11:11.260 | being a calming pathway

00:11:12.860 | that's involved

00:11:13.980 | in transmitting information

00:11:15.320 | about the sensory milieu

00:11:16.900 | of the body.

00:11:17.920 | So,

00:11:18.280 | you know,

00:11:18.720 | heart rate,

00:11:19.560 | acidity of the gut,

00:11:21.340 | you know,

00:11:22.100 | how comfortable

00:11:22.620 | we are in our body

00:11:23.640 | to our brain.

00:11:24.480 | And people will say

00:11:25.540 | you want to activate

00:11:26.420 | the vagus nerve

00:11:27.260 | because you want

00:11:28.200 | to calm down.

00:11:29.200 | Well,

00:11:29.920 | that is true,

00:11:31.260 | but that is just

00:11:31.960 | one small fraction

00:11:33.320 | of the functions

00:11:33.920 | of the vagus nerve.

00:11:34.680 | Why?

00:11:35.500 | Because the vagus nerve

00:11:36.720 | includes both

00:11:37.400 | sensory

00:11:38.020 | and motor neurons

00:11:39.680 | within it.

00:11:40.260 | And while it is true

00:11:42.420 | that a ton

00:11:43.240 | of sensory information

00:11:44.200 | is coursing up

00:11:45.160 | from the organs

00:11:45.800 | of the body

00:11:46.400 | into the brain

00:11:47.420 | through what we call

00:11:48.400 | the vagus nerve,

00:11:49.320 | there's also

00:11:50.640 | motor information

00:11:51.660 | coming from the brain

00:11:53.120 | to the body.

00:11:54.260 | So if we are going

00:11:55.440 | to have an accurate,

00:11:56.340 | meaningful,

00:11:57.020 | actionable conversation

00:11:58.360 | about the vagus nerve,

00:11:59.260 | it's very important

00:12:00.380 | that you know

00:12:00.920 | that the vagus nerve

00:12:01.700 | contains sensory neurons

00:12:03.340 | as well as

00:12:04.280 | motor neurons.

00:12:05.540 | And I want to be clear

00:12:06.260 | that I'm not just

00:12:06.840 | telling you about sensory

00:12:07.680 | versus motor neurons

00:12:08.640 | in the vagus nerve

00:12:09.420 | to just overload you

00:12:10.780 | with nomenclature.

00:12:11.640 | It turns out

00:12:12.760 | that if you want

00:12:13.340 | to access

00:12:13.800 | the calming aspects

00:12:15.180 | of vagus nerve activation

00:12:17.260 | versus the energizing effects

00:12:20.260 | of vagus nerve activation

00:12:21.880 | versus the immune-enhancing effects

00:12:24.520 | of vagus nerve activation

00:12:25.860 | versus the ways

00:12:27.220 | that you can improve

00:12:28.100 | learning using vagus nerve activation,

00:12:30.440 | you need to know

00:12:31.740 | whether or not

00:12:32.300 | you're trying to activate

00:12:33.540 | a sensory pathway

00:12:34.820 | or a motor pathway

00:12:36.420 | within this vast set

00:12:37.820 | of connections

00:12:38.300 | that we call

00:12:38.900 | the vagus nerve.

00:12:39.760 | Okay,

00:12:40.520 | so I want to just briefly

00:12:41.540 | describe the sensory pathways

00:12:43.300 | within the vagus nerve.

00:12:44.460 | And by the way,

00:12:45.980 | if you're a yoga teacher,

00:12:47.440 | if you are a therapist,

00:12:49.160 | if you are a teacher,

00:12:50.300 | if you are a human being

00:12:51.720 | on earth,

00:12:52.320 | this information

00:12:53.560 | is going to be

00:12:54.060 | very useful to you

00:12:54.980 | because this is

00:12:56.040 | the information

00:12:56.620 | that will allow you

00:12:57.480 | to understand

00:12:58.100 | why it is

00:12:59.040 | that when your body

00:13:00.500 | is in a certain

00:13:01.260 | comfortable

00:13:01.820 | or uncomfortable state,

00:13:03.360 | it has a particular effect

00:13:05.520 | on your mind

00:13:06.560 | and your brain

00:13:07.300 | to feel,

00:13:08.040 | well,

00:13:08.520 | in general,

00:13:09.100 | comfortable

00:13:09.820 | or uncomfortable.

00:13:10.740 | Your vagus nerve

00:13:12.440 | includes very interesting

00:13:13.640 | and kind of unusually

00:13:14.960 | shaped neurons.

00:13:15.940 | Okay,

00:13:16.580 | the neurons

00:13:17.420 | of the vagus nerve

00:13:18.260 | are not like the ones

00:13:19.500 | that you see

00:13:19.980 | in the typical picture

00:13:20.880 | if you were

00:13:21.500 | to look up neuron online.

00:13:22.860 | If you were

00:13:23.180 | to look up neuron online,

00:13:24.500 | what you would find

00:13:25.200 | is you'd see a picture

00:13:26.380 | of what's called

00:13:27.020 | a cell body

00:13:27.740 | where the nucleus,

00:13:28.420 | the DNA is.

00:13:29.260 | You'd see

00:13:29.980 | what are called

00:13:30.360 | dendrites,

00:13:30.980 | which typically

00:13:31.620 | are the area

00:13:32.160 | where neurons

00:13:32.820 | receive input.

00:13:33.760 | And then you'd

00:13:34.500 | see the wire-like

00:13:35.600 | extension

00:13:36.040 | that we call

00:13:36.460 | the axon

00:13:37.200 | out to the area

00:13:38.800 | that that neuron

00:13:39.480 | communicates with.

00:13:40.360 | And then you might

00:13:41.060 | see a little picture

00:13:41.680 | of some little blobs

00:13:43.080 | or what we call

00:13:43.660 | vesicles being released

00:13:45.020 | at the end

00:13:45.460 | of that axon.

00:13:46.180 | That is not

00:13:47.340 | at all

00:13:48.120 | what vagal nerve

00:13:49.440 | neurons look like.

00:13:50.660 | Some of them do,

00:13:51.840 | but the vast majority,

00:13:53.160 | about 85%

00:13:54.500 | of the neurons

00:13:55.520 | in the vagus nerve,

00:13:56.560 | have a cell body

00:13:58.040 | with that DNA

00:13:58.920 | with the nucleus in it

00:14:00.140 | sitting in an area

00:14:01.540 | kind of near your neck

00:14:03.620 | and back of your head,

00:14:05.520 | sort of what we call

00:14:06.460 | the brainstem.

00:14:07.160 | And it's called

00:14:08.200 | the nodose ganglion.

00:14:09.700 | Now,

00:14:10.160 | the nodose ganglion

00:14:10.900 | is a collection

00:14:11.660 | of cell bodies

00:14:12.760 | of neurons.

00:14:13.400 | So you can think of it

00:14:14.260 | kind of like a cluster

00:14:15.160 | of grapes.

00:14:16.440 | and they do indeed

00:14:17.720 | have an axon

00:14:18.860 | extending from them,

00:14:19.600 | a wire

00:14:20.080 | that goes out

00:14:21.360 | to the body.

00:14:22.260 | That wire

00:14:24.100 | looks for all the world

00:14:25.440 | like the axons

00:14:26.300 | on any other neurons.

00:14:27.320 | And that little axon

00:14:28.800 | can be very short

00:14:29.640 | if it terminates,

00:14:30.800 | as we say,

00:14:31.340 | in an area of the neck.

00:14:32.920 | It can be slightly longer

00:14:34.260 | if it terminates

00:14:34.900 | in the chest area

00:14:35.820 | and even longer

00:14:36.960 | if it goes

00:14:37.520 | to what we call

00:14:38.280 | our viscera,

00:14:38.960 | our lungs,

00:14:40.220 | our pancreas,

00:14:41.440 | our liver,

00:14:42.520 | down to any number

00:14:44.620 | of different organs

00:14:45.600 | within our major

00:14:47.020 | abdominal body compartment.

00:14:48.580 | Okay?

00:14:49.200 | You also see

00:14:49.860 | an axon,

00:14:50.720 | a little wire

00:14:51.380 | from a vagal sensory neuron

00:14:53.880 | out to the spleen.

00:14:55.020 | Now,

00:14:55.700 | what I just described,

00:14:56.500 | a cell body

00:14:57.260 | with an axon

00:14:58.940 | extending from it

00:14:59.760 | out to the organs

00:15:00.780 | of the body,

00:15:01.360 | different organs

00:15:02.380 | of the body

00:15:02.840 | tend to be innervated

00:15:04.080 | by different neurons.

00:15:06.420 | Not always,

00:15:07.280 | but in general.

00:15:07.940 | But here's what's different

00:15:09.860 | about these vagal neurons.

00:15:11.700 | These vagal neurons

00:15:13.140 | have another axon

00:15:15.160 | that goes from the cell body.

00:15:16.560 | So they're what we call

00:15:17.220 | a bipolar neuron.

00:15:18.200 | They have another axon

00:15:19.320 | that extends up

00:15:20.340 | into the brainstem

00:15:21.880 | and terminates

00:15:23.200 | in generally

00:15:24.080 | one of three different

00:15:25.200 | what we call

00:15:25.740 | brainstem nuclei,

00:15:26.920 | which are just areas

00:15:27.820 | of the brainstem.

00:15:28.500 | So this is very important

00:15:29.680 | to embed in your mind,

00:15:30.860 | right?

00:15:31.180 | Because in reality,

00:15:32.740 | embedded in your head

00:15:34.360 | and neck

00:15:34.860 | or in your brain

00:15:35.660 | and neck

00:15:36.220 | are these neurons

00:15:37.420 | which are kind of

00:15:37.880 | like a cluster of grapes

00:15:38.900 | that have,

00:15:39.440 | each one is going

00:15:40.560 | to have two branches,

00:15:41.680 | one that goes out

00:15:42.680 | to a particular organ

00:15:44.320 | of the body

00:15:44.920 | and another branch

00:15:46.360 | that goes up

00:15:46.980 | into your brainstem.

00:15:47.880 | Now,

00:15:48.800 | this visual understanding,

00:15:50.460 | which hopefully

00:15:50.940 | is starting

00:15:51.720 | to take place

00:15:52.340 | in your mind

00:15:52.880 | is extremely important

00:15:54.340 | to understand

00:15:55.060 | how 85%

00:15:56.580 | of the vagus nerve works.

00:15:57.800 | 85%

00:15:58.800 | of the vagus nerve works

00:15:59.940 | by having these neurons

00:16:01.040 | that have axons

00:16:03.040 | in say the spleen

00:16:04.200 | or around the lungs

00:16:05.760 | or that innervate the heart

00:16:07.460 | or that innervate

00:16:08.380 | any number

00:16:08.920 | of different organs

00:16:09.700 | in your body

00:16:10.340 | and they collect

00:16:13.020 | sensory information

00:16:14.260 | about what's going on

00:16:16.240 | in each

00:16:17.040 | and every one

00:16:17.480 | of those organs.

00:16:18.520 | That information

00:16:19.540 | goes up the axon.

00:16:21.020 | Remember,

00:16:21.800 | there's a cell bodies

00:16:22.700 | in the nodos ganglion

00:16:23.720 | and then it goes

00:16:24.520 | further up

00:16:25.640 | past the cell body

00:16:26.700 | into the brainstem.

00:16:27.860 | Okay,

00:16:28.540 | so when people talk

00:16:29.380 | about the vagus nerve,

00:16:30.360 | cranial nerve 10

00:16:31.360 | as being a sensory pathway,

00:16:33.900 | it is mostly

00:16:35.260 | a sensory pathway.

00:16:36.280 | It's collecting information

00:16:37.720 | through these axons.

00:16:38.620 | Why is that weird?

00:16:39.900 | Well,

00:16:40.740 | it's not weird

00:16:41.500 | but it's different

00:16:42.100 | than the way

00:16:42.560 | we normally talk

00:16:43.360 | about neurons

00:16:43.800 | where the axon

00:16:44.500 | is the output end,

00:16:45.440 | right,

00:16:45.800 | where it's dumping stuff

00:16:46.780 | onto the next neuron

00:16:47.580 | to make things happen.

00:16:48.360 | The neurons

00:16:50.140 | in the nodos ganglion

00:16:51.360 | of the vagus nerve,

00:16:52.140 | I know that's a lot

00:16:52.760 | of language

00:16:53.140 | but these neurons

00:16:54.180 | that send an axon branch

00:16:56.500 | out to the organs

00:16:57.700 | of the body

00:16:58.220 | are collecting information

00:17:00.000 | about what's happening,

00:17:00.860 | what sensory information

00:17:03.080 | is occurring

00:17:03.980 | out at those organs

00:17:05.440 | and that information

00:17:06.720 | goes up those wires

00:17:08.060 | past the cell body

00:17:09.500 | and into the brainstem

00:17:10.920 | and then that's

00:17:11.760 | communicated to the brain.

00:17:13.160 | So basically,

00:17:15.280 | we can think of 85%

00:17:16.980 | of the vagus nerve,

00:17:18.340 | this huge superhighway

00:17:19.780 | from the body

00:17:20.680 | to the brain

00:17:21.320 | as being sensory

00:17:22.600 | and when we talk

00:17:24.200 | about sensory,

00:17:24.940 | it's important

00:17:25.680 | that you understand

00:17:26.340 | that two types

00:17:27.380 | of sensory information

00:17:28.280 | are coming in

00:17:29.140 | through these wires,

00:17:30.440 | through these axons

00:17:31.420 | and that are delivered

00:17:32.740 | to the brain

00:17:33.400 | and in response

00:17:34.480 | to that sensory information,

00:17:35.720 | as you'll soon learn,

00:17:36.760 | your brain will change

00:17:38.080 | its levels of alertness.

00:17:39.120 | Sometimes it gets more alert,

00:17:40.200 | sometimes it gets calmer,

00:17:41.400 | sometimes it primes you

00:17:43.440 | to learn better,

00:17:44.120 | sometimes it will turn

00:17:45.680 | on a fever,

00:17:46.520 | it will literally

00:17:47.680 | heat up your entire body

00:17:48.880 | based on what those axons

00:17:50.720 | are sensing

00:17:52.360 | out in the periphery,

00:17:54.120 | the periphery of course

00:17:55.720 | being the organs

00:17:56.640 | and tissues

00:17:57.060 | of your body

00:17:57.620 | outside your brain

00:17:58.640 | and spinal cord.

00:17:59.440 | So I realize

00:18:00.240 | that's a bit of neuroanatomy

00:18:01.500 | for those of you

00:18:02.000 | that aren't familiar

00:18:02.580 | with neuroanatomy,

00:18:03.300 | it might seem like

00:18:03.980 | an overwhelming amount

00:18:05.120 | of neuroanatomy,

00:18:05.760 | but it's extremely important

00:18:07.160 | to have that idea

00:18:08.000 | in your mind

00:18:08.460 | of sensory information

00:18:09.360 | flowing up

00:18:10.200 | into the brain

00:18:11.500 | from your organs

00:18:12.760 | because anatomically speaking

00:18:15.540 | and functionally speaking,

00:18:16.460 | it runs exactly opposite

00:18:18.180 | to how we typically

00:18:19.020 | see neurons

00:18:20.440 | when they're drawn

00:18:21.120 | in diagrams for us

00:18:22.120 | and how we talk

00:18:22.780 | about neurons

00:18:23.200 | as just putting stuff

00:18:24.320 | out at the level

00:18:24.980 | of the axon

00:18:25.640 | at the end

00:18:26.180 | of those wires.

00:18:26.900 | Information's coming

00:18:28.020 | up those wires

00:18:29.040 | in the case of the vagus.

00:18:30.160 | Okay,

00:18:30.700 | so whereas

00:18:31.260 | for the visual system

00:18:32.580 | or the auditory system

00:18:34.200 | or for the smell system

00:18:36.080 | or the taste system,

00:18:37.060 | typically we have

00:18:38.980 | one type of sensory

00:18:40.140 | information coming in.

00:18:41.120 | So for instance,

00:18:41.800 | in the visual system,

00:18:42.780 | light photons of energy

00:18:45.080 | are converted

00:18:45.720 | into electrical signals

00:18:46.820 | that the rest

00:18:47.460 | of the visual system

00:18:48.740 | unpacks

00:18:49.680 | to give you

00:18:50.120 | visual perceptions

00:18:50.940 | to control

00:18:51.520 | your circadian rhythms

00:18:52.520 | or in the case

00:18:53.300 | of the auditory system,

00:18:54.160 | you have sound waves

00:18:55.080 | which are transduced

00:18:56.860 | by this beautiful mechanism

00:18:58.720 | of your inner ear

00:18:59.660 | that then gets converted

00:19:01.460 | into your understanding

00:19:02.400 | of speech

00:19:03.060 | or music,

00:19:03.620 | et cetera.

00:19:04.080 | In the case

00:19:05.280 | of the vagus nerve,

00:19:06.180 | the sensory information

00:19:07.980 | coming from your organs,

00:19:09.860 | from your lungs,

00:19:10.840 | from your gut

00:19:12.120 | and by the way,

00:19:12.760 | your gut,

00:19:13.280 | when I say that,

00:19:13.940 | I don't just mean

00:19:14.780 | your stomach,

00:19:15.460 | I also mean

00:19:15.980 | the large and small intestine

00:19:17.100 | and all the stuff

00:19:17.680 | above your stomach

00:19:18.480 | as well.

00:19:18.960 | The sensory information

00:19:21.580 | that's coming

00:19:22.100 | from the body

00:19:22.760 | includes both

00:19:23.740 | chemical information

00:19:24.980 | and mechanical information.

00:19:27.440 | Now,

00:19:28.260 | the mechanical information

00:19:29.220 | is pretty straightforward

00:19:29.980 | to understand.

00:19:30.680 | If your gut

00:19:31.840 | is full of food

00:19:32.800 | or air

00:19:33.420 | or water

00:19:33.960 | and it's very distended,

00:19:34.980 | you can feel that.

00:19:36.500 | The reason you can feel that

00:19:37.880 | is because you have

00:19:38.560 | mechanoreceptors

00:19:39.940 | that sense stretch

00:19:41.760 | in the lining

00:19:42.880 | of the gut

00:19:43.460 | and send that information

00:19:45.400 | by way of those axons

00:19:47.340 | up

00:19:47.760 | to and past

00:19:49.600 | the nodo's ganglion.

00:19:50.460 | There's some processing

00:19:51.300 | of that information

00:19:51.960 | in the nodo's ganglion,

00:19:52.720 | but then it goes

00:19:53.200 | up

00:19:53.760 | and into your brainstem.

00:19:55.320 | Okay?

00:19:56.120 | Now,

00:19:56.680 | also within the gut

00:19:57.820 | you have

00:19:58.920 | chemical information.

00:20:00.000 | There's information

00:20:00.840 | about,

00:20:01.180 | for instance,

00:20:01.760 | and we'll talk

00:20:02.220 | more about this later,

00:20:03.200 | how much serotonin

00:20:04.580 | is in the gut.

00:20:05.280 | You may have heard

00:20:06.280 | that 90%

00:20:07.160 | of the serotonin

00:20:07.980 | in your body

00:20:08.660 | is manufactured

00:20:09.560 | in the gut

00:20:10.260 | and indeed

00:20:11.140 | it's manufactured

00:20:11.880 | in your gut.

00:20:12.500 | It plays an important

00:20:13.340 | role in gut motility

00:20:14.760 | and gut health.

00:20:16.260 | The serotonin

00:20:17.960 | in your gut

00:20:18.500 | is distinct

00:20:19.280 | from the serotonin

00:20:20.320 | released in your brain.

00:20:21.180 | Later,

00:20:21.580 | we'll talk about

00:20:22.120 | how the levels

00:20:22.780 | of serotonin

00:20:23.420 | in your gut

00:20:24.020 | are conveyed

00:20:25.380 | to the brain

00:20:26.300 | by way of,

00:20:27.060 | you guessed it,

00:20:27.920 | the vagus nerve

00:20:28.740 | and your brain

00:20:29.820 | in turn

00:20:30.260 | makes different levels

00:20:31.960 | of serotonin

00:20:32.880 | to impact your mood.

00:20:34.040 | Super interesting,

00:20:35.140 | super important pathway

00:20:36.360 | has relevance

00:20:36.920 | for depression

00:20:37.520 | and just for everyday

00:20:38.480 | mood and well-being.

00:20:39.420 | We'll talk about it.

00:20:40.140 | It's a highly actionable pathway.

00:20:41.460 | Super cool.

00:20:42.260 | So you have mechanical information

00:20:45.040 | and you have chemical information

00:20:47.020 | coming from,

00:20:47.900 | for instance,

00:20:48.400 | your gut

00:20:48.940 | up through the sensory

00:20:50.420 | in the technical nomenclature.

00:20:52.520 | It's called afference.

00:20:53.640 | Afference is a technical language.

00:20:55.340 | Feel free to ignore this,

00:20:56.380 | but for those of you

00:20:56.960 | that want to know,

00:20:57.460 | you aficionados already know this,

00:20:59.120 | the afference

00:21:00.020 | are the inputs to a structure.

00:21:01.660 | Efference are the inputs

00:21:03.380 | from a structure.

00:21:04.420 | But what we've got

00:21:06.520 | in the case of the gut

00:21:07.240 | is mechanical

00:21:08.220 | and chemical information

00:21:09.480 | being sensed

00:21:10.560 | by different neurons

00:21:11.960 | with different receptors

00:21:12.920 | that pay attention

00:21:13.760 | to different things,

00:21:15.180 | meaning those receptors

00:21:16.640 | are activated

00:21:17.340 | by either mechanical stretch

00:21:18.780 | or by the presence

00:21:19.720 | or absence

00:21:20.220 | of particular chemicals

00:21:21.320 | in the gut,

00:21:21.860 | how acidic the gut is,

00:21:23.600 | and that information goes up,

00:21:25.000 | processed a bit

00:21:25.960 | in the nodo's ganglion

00:21:26.740 | and then relayed up

00:21:27.720 | to the brainstem.

00:21:28.440 | And we'll talk in a moment

00:21:29.500 | about what happens

00:21:30.220 | to that information

00:21:30.940 | after it lands

00:21:32.380 | in the brainstem.

00:21:33.040 | Now,

00:21:33.900 | chemical and mechanical information

00:21:35.960 | is also being conveyed

00:21:37.080 | from other structures

00:21:38.160 | in the body.

00:21:38.740 | You can probably imagine

00:21:40.040 | what some of these are,

00:21:40.900 | and we don't have to go

00:21:41.760 | through each and every one,

00:21:42.500 | but as one additional example

00:21:44.100 | to the gut,

00:21:44.600 | I'll just use,

00:21:45.100 | for instance,

00:21:45.480 | the lungs.

00:21:46.080 | When your lungs

00:21:47.280 | expand

00:21:48.320 | and contract

00:21:49.680 | as you breathe,

00:21:50.860 | that information

00:21:52.240 | is relayed up

00:21:54.180 | through and past

00:21:55.540 | the nodo's ganglion

00:21:56.440 | and up into the brainstem.

00:21:57.840 | And as you can imagine,

00:21:59.340 | your lungs,

00:21:59.860 | because you're inhaling oxygen

00:22:01.540 | and you're also

00:22:02.140 | offloading carbon dioxide,

00:22:03.340 | your lungs are expanding

00:22:05.640 | and contracting.

00:22:06.460 | Your lungs are also

00:22:07.860 | communicating mechanical

00:22:09.160 | and chemical oxygen-carbon dioxide

00:22:11.680 | ratio information

00:22:12.620 | up to the brain.

00:22:13.740 | Now,

00:22:14.160 | if we wanted to,

00:22:14.680 | we could explore

00:22:15.280 | and discuss

00:22:15.680 | every single organ

00:22:16.440 | of your body

00:22:16.980 | that gets axon input

00:22:18.800 | from the vagus nerve

00:22:19.720 | and therefore

00:22:20.200 | can carry sensory information

00:22:21.940 | up the vagus.

00:22:22.780 | And again,

00:22:23.720 | there's going to be information

00:22:24.740 | about the chemical environment

00:22:26.620 | and the mechanical status

00:22:28.780 | of each of those organs

00:22:29.920 | carried up to your brainstem.

00:22:31.360 | We're not going to do that now

00:22:32.440 | for sake of time,

00:22:33.240 | but it's very important

00:22:34.740 | that you now take a step back

00:22:36.400 | and you realize,

00:22:37.080 | hmm,

00:22:37.480 | I understand what sensory information is.

00:22:39.920 | I understand that it's different

00:22:40.920 | than motor information.

00:22:41.860 | It's carried by different neurons

00:22:43.300 | in the nervous system.

00:22:44.060 | The vagus nerve

00:22:44.960 | has both sensory

00:22:46.380 | and motor neurons.

00:22:48.020 | the sensory neurons

00:22:49.220 | are collecting information

00:22:50.400 | from all these bodily organs.

00:22:51.780 | And by the way,

00:22:52.420 | those bodily organs

00:22:53.380 | don't just stop

00:22:54.120 | at the level of the lungs.

00:22:55.080 | It includes the heart.

00:22:56.160 | It includes some stuff

00:22:57.280 | that's happening in the neck,

00:22:58.520 | some of the muscles

00:22:59.940 | that are controlling

00:23:00.760 | the constriction of the airways.

00:23:02.180 | We'll get into this

00:23:03.040 | a little bit more

00:23:03.480 | in a few minutes,

00:23:04.020 | but you now also know

00:23:06.600 | that when we talk

00:23:07.280 | about collecting sensory information

00:23:09.000 | from the body

00:23:09.660 | and sending it to the brain

00:23:10.860 | by these vagal pathways,

00:23:12.700 | that the types

00:23:14.140 | of sensory information

00:23:15.020 | include both chemical

00:23:16.460 | and mechanical information.

00:23:18.140 | And the reason that's important

00:23:19.940 | is not just academic

00:23:21.000 | and intellectual.

00:23:21.700 | It's not just to fill

00:23:22.680 | the airspace with nomenclature.

00:23:24.000 | It's because

00:23:25.240 | if you're going to think

00:23:26.220 | about ways

00:23:27.400 | to change the activity

00:23:29.240 | of the vagus system,

00:23:30.400 | the ways to,

00:23:31.760 | for instance,

00:23:32.460 | calm down

00:23:33.480 | or the ways

00:23:34.120 | to improve

00:23:34.820 | your immune system function

00:23:35.940 | or to improve your mood

00:23:37.180 | in the short and long term,

00:23:38.460 | you need to ask yourself,

00:23:40.000 | am I going to do that

00:23:41.120 | through a mechanical change

00:23:43.220 | or am I going to do that

00:23:44.780 | by making a change

00:23:45.980 | to the chemical milieu

00:23:47.100 | of a given organ

00:23:48.140 | or set of organs?

00:23:48.980 | So to drive the point

00:23:50.120 | I just made home,

00:23:50.820 | let's take an example

00:23:52.080 | that we see a lot out there,

00:23:53.300 | which is that

00:23:54.940 | if you want to increase

00:23:56.220 | the activity

00:23:56.700 | of your vagus nerve,

00:23:57.640 | you want to calm down.

00:23:59.160 | Why am I saying calm down?

00:24:00.280 | I neglected to say earlier

00:24:01.760 | that, by the way,

00:24:02.640 | every medical student

00:24:03.460 | and pre-med student

00:24:04.140 | should know,

00:24:04.600 | which is that cranial nerve 10,

00:24:06.680 | the vagus nerve

00:24:07.280 | is classified

00:24:07.880 | as a parasympathetic nerve.

00:24:09.920 | Parasympathetic

00:24:11.060 | refers to one branch

00:24:12.640 | of the so-called

00:24:13.200 | autonomic nervous system.

00:24:14.460 | The autonomic nervous system

00:24:15.880 | controls your levels

00:24:16.720 | of alertness

00:24:17.280 | and your levels of calm.

00:24:18.360 | It has two major branches.

00:24:19.960 | One branch is called

00:24:20.820 | the sympathetic nervous system.

00:24:22.260 | It has nothing to do

00:24:23.140 | with emotional sympathy.

00:24:24.060 | The sympathetic nervous system

00:24:25.880 | is generally responsible

00:24:27.660 | for increasing

00:24:29.300 | our levels of alertness.

00:24:30.460 | Everything from being alert

00:24:31.840 | like I am now

00:24:32.720 | all the way up

00:24:33.940 | to full-blown panic attack,

00:24:35.160 | which fortunately,

00:24:35.820 | I'm not right now.

00:24:37.040 | The parasympathetic nervous system

00:24:38.980 | is often referred to

00:24:40.280 | as the rest and digest system.

00:24:42.120 | And indeed,

00:24:43.020 | it has roles

00:24:44.020 | in rest and digestion,

00:24:45.240 | but it controls

00:24:45.940 | a lot more than just that.

00:24:47.280 | The parasympathetic branch

00:24:48.760 | of the autonomic nervous system

00:24:49.980 | controls,

00:24:50.820 | for instance,

00:24:51.520 | digestion.

00:24:52.900 | It controls

00:24:54.080 | our ability

00:24:54.640 | to fall asleep at night.

00:24:55.780 | If the parasympathetic nervous system

00:24:57.540 | is overly activated,

00:24:58.880 | it can make us sleepy

00:25:00.240 | when we don't want

00:25:01.040 | to be sleepy.

00:25:01.600 | It can make us pass out

00:25:02.920 | when we don't want

00:25:03.640 | to pass out.

00:25:04.300 | It can be responsible

00:25:05.660 | for putting people

00:25:06.740 | into a state of coma.

00:25:07.620 | So it's not good

00:25:08.720 | to think about

00:25:09.140 | the sympathetic nervous system

00:25:10.280 | simply as fight or flight,

00:25:11.780 | how it's often referred to,

00:25:12.960 | because it's also responsible

00:25:14.060 | for generating healthy,

00:25:15.820 | wakeful,

00:25:16.760 | non-anxious,

00:25:17.520 | non-stress levels

00:25:18.440 | of alertness,

00:25:18.940 | as well as stressed out,

00:25:20.720 | panic states.

00:25:21.620 | And the parasympathetic nervous system

00:25:23.580 | is responsible

00:25:24.120 | for putting us

00:25:24.960 | into a calm

00:25:26.140 | and relaxed state

00:25:26.980 | or a deep sleep state

00:25:29.040 | or a coma state

00:25:31.100 | if it were

00:25:31.600 | to be hyperactivated.

00:25:32.880 | The autonomic nervous system

00:25:34.120 | is a seesaw

00:25:34.860 | where the levels

00:25:36.280 | of alertness

00:25:37.220 | and calm

00:25:37.660 | that we experience

00:25:38.280 | in any one moment

00:25:39.060 | reflect the relative balance

00:25:40.900 | of sympathetic nervous system

00:25:42.120 | and parasympathetic nervous system

00:25:43.500 | activity.

00:25:44.020 | They're sort of

00:25:44.620 | in a push-pull

00:25:45.380 | with one another.

00:25:46.000 | Increase the parasympathetic

00:25:47.740 | nervous system activity

00:25:48.580 | a little bit,

00:25:48.960 | you get a bit calmer.

00:25:49.780 | Increase the sympathetic

00:25:50.840 | nervous system activity

00:25:51.880 | a little bit,

00:25:52.360 | you get a bit more alert,

00:25:53.480 | but they're always

00:25:54.400 | both active.

00:25:55.340 | The vagus nerve

00:25:56.560 | is classified

00:25:57.300 | as a parasympathetic nerve.

00:25:59.900 | However,

00:26:00.480 | it's a bit

00:26:01.700 | of a misnomer

00:26:02.920 | because as you'll soon realize,

00:26:04.800 | there are pathways

00:26:05.720 | within the vagus nerve

00:26:06.900 | that were you

00:26:08.200 | to activate

00:26:08.800 | these pathways

00:26:09.400 | within the vagus nerve,

00:26:10.440 | you would become

00:26:11.400 | more alert,

00:26:12.420 | not less alert.

00:26:13.680 | This is one of the things

00:26:15.160 | that I'm hoping

00:26:15.700 | to dispel

00:26:16.280 | through the course

00:26:16.820 | of this episode,

00:26:17.520 | which is this very

00:26:19.000 | common myth out there.

00:26:20.160 | It's almost pervasive

00:26:21.260 | that when you activate

00:26:23.160 | the vagus nerve,

00:26:23.920 | you're going to calm down.

00:26:25.260 | It is simply not true.

00:26:27.060 | Okay.

00:26:27.800 | There are instances

00:26:28.560 | where that is true.

00:26:29.540 | There are instances

00:26:30.600 | where the opposite

00:26:31.560 | is true

00:26:32.040 | depending on which branch

00:26:33.540 | of the vagus nerve

00:26:34.840 | you happen to activate

00:26:35.940 | or suppress.

00:26:36.760 | One example,

00:26:38.060 | however,

00:26:38.480 | where activating

00:26:39.580 | a particular branch

00:26:40.760 | of the vagus nerve

00:26:41.580 | does indeed lead

00:26:42.620 | to more relaxation

00:26:43.480 | is the branch

00:26:45.660 | of the vagus nerve

00:26:46.560 | that again

00:26:47.660 | is sensory.

00:26:48.440 | Okay.

00:26:48.820 | So it's taking information

00:26:49.860 | about mechanical phenomenon,

00:26:51.480 | in this case,

00:26:52.060 | pressure or touch

00:26:54.240 | and it's sending

00:26:55.680 | that information

00:26:56.440 | down into

00:26:57.820 | the brainstem areas

00:26:58.840 | that are going

00:26:59.500 | to interpret

00:27:00.060 | that information.

00:27:00.840 | This branch

00:27:02.780 | of the vagus nerve

00:27:03.780 | that is carrying

00:27:04.360 | sensory information

00:27:05.280 | doesn't come

00:27:06.180 | from the viscera

00:27:07.120 | or the neck.

00:27:08.060 | It comes from the head

00:27:09.040 | and it's the branch

00:27:09.980 | of the vagus nerve

00:27:10.740 | that essentially

00:27:12.120 | goes behind the ear

00:27:14.180 | and in some

00:27:14.820 | of the deeper components

00:27:16.540 | of the ear.

00:27:16.960 | Remember,

00:27:17.200 | they tell you

00:27:17.580 | don't put anything

00:27:18.100 | into your ear

00:27:18.560 | that's,

00:27:18.880 | you know,

00:27:19.920 | smaller than your elbow.

00:27:22.080 | well,

00:27:22.380 | I'm breaking

00:27:23.280 | that rule right now

00:27:23.980 | and I'm putting

00:27:24.280 | my index finger

00:27:25.080 | into my ear

00:27:25.900 | and rubbing

00:27:27.020 | in a circular way

00:27:27.840 | that kind of

00:27:28.220 | the area right

00:27:29.220 | outside the hole

00:27:30.580 | of the ear.

00:27:31.060 | There's a branch

00:27:31.840 | of the vagus nerve

00:27:32.660 | there.

00:27:32.920 | There's also,

00:27:33.440 | as I mentioned,

00:27:33.900 | a branch

00:27:34.260 | of the vagus nerve

00:27:34.920 | behind the ear

00:27:35.620 | and were you to rub

00:27:36.800 | behind the ear

00:27:37.460 | just gently

00:27:38.380 | or,

00:27:38.780 | you know,

00:27:39.180 | with a little bit

00:27:39.720 | of pressure.

00:27:40.220 | Indeed,

00:27:40.840 | you're going

00:27:41.140 | to activate

00:27:41.640 | that branch

00:27:42.220 | of the vagus nerve.

00:27:43.000 | That branch

00:27:43.980 | of the vagus nerve

00:27:44.560 | is carrying

00:27:44.880 | sensory information

00:27:45.860 | so that mechanical

00:27:46.720 | pressure

00:27:47.140 | is being conveyed

00:27:48.020 | into the brainstem

00:27:49.040 | and indeed

00:27:49.860 | that pathway

00:27:50.680 | satisfies all the criteria

00:27:52.780 | of being a parasympathetic

00:27:54.600 | or calming

00:27:55.300 | inducing pathway.

00:27:56.260 | Now,

00:27:57.020 | you can find

00:27:57.500 | all over the internet

00:27:58.200 | that,

00:27:58.580 | you know,

00:27:58.840 | rubbing behind the ears

00:27:59.940 | is really going

00:28:00.660 | to calm us down

00:28:01.680 | and really bring

00:28:02.620 | our level

00:28:03.120 | of overall

00:28:03.760 | autonomic arousal

00:28:04.720 | way,

00:28:05.040 | way down.

00:28:05.560 | In reality,

00:28:06.660 | it doesn't bring

00:28:07.320 | our overall level

00:28:08.160 | of autonomic arousal

00:28:09.140 | way,

00:28:09.480 | way down.

00:28:10.200 | it brings

00:28:10.860 | our level

00:28:11.280 | of autonomic

00:28:11.880 | arousal

00:28:12.300 | down a bit

00:28:13.280 | depending on

00:28:14.180 | how active

00:28:15.580 | our sympathetic

00:28:16.780 | nervous system

00:28:17.480 | happens to be.

00:28:18.240 | Why do I tell you this?

00:28:19.540 | Well,

00:28:19.680 | I'm not trying

00:28:20.060 | to rain

00:28:20.760 | on any parties

00:28:21.580 | out there,

00:28:22.080 | but the truth

00:28:23.180 | is if you're

00:28:24.220 | super stressed,

00:28:25.240 | if you're

00:28:25.620 | in a panic

00:28:26.140 | attack,

00:28:26.560 | rubbing behind

00:28:27.380 | your ears

00:28:27.700 | might help

00:28:28.120 | a little bit,

00:28:28.740 | but it's not

00:28:29.500 | going to suddenly

00:28:30.140 | bring you

00:28:30.520 | into a state

00:28:31.020 | of calm.

00:28:31.460 | Soon,

00:28:31.940 | we're going

00:28:32.240 | to talk

00:28:32.520 | about things

00:28:32.900 | that can bring

00:28:33.380 | you into

00:28:33.660 | a state

00:28:33.960 | of calm

00:28:34.320 | very fast

00:28:35.280 | and I will

00:28:35.600 | explain exactly

00:28:36.400 | how they work

00:28:37.020 | and why they work

00:28:37.740 | so quickly

00:28:38.580 | and why they are

00:28:39.300 | so robust.

00:28:39.940 | I don't want

00:28:40.620 | to be disparaging

00:28:41.360 | of the area

00:28:41.920 | behind the ear

00:28:42.660 | or the area

00:28:43.160 | within their ear.

00:28:43.720 | Some people

00:28:44.100 | really like

00:28:44.560 | their ears rubbed.

00:28:45.280 | I certainly

00:28:45.840 | like the area

00:28:46.380 | behind my ears

00:28:47.000 | rubbed like I'm

00:28:47.560 | doing now

00:28:47.980 | or the areas

00:28:48.360 | within my ears

00:28:49.080 | gently rubbed.

00:28:49.840 | Who doesn't

00:28:50.400 | like that?

00:28:50.840 | And indeed,

00:28:51.380 | it's calming,

00:28:51.960 | but it's one

00:28:53.620 | minor branch

00:28:54.540 | of the vagus nerve

00:28:55.780 | carrying sensory

00:28:56.460 | information.

00:28:57.040 | It's not going

00:28:58.260 | to suddenly shift

00:28:59.060 | your autonomic

00:28:59.660 | nervous system.

00:29:00.180 | It's not going

00:29:00.640 | to suddenly tilt

00:29:01.340 | that seesaw

00:29:01.940 | into parasympathetic

00:29:03.080 | dominance,

00:29:03.980 | as it were.

00:29:04.700 | To do that,

00:29:05.660 | you need to leverage

00:29:06.320 | some of the other

00:29:07.100 | more robust

00:29:08.540 | branches

00:29:09.280 | of the vagus nerve

00:29:10.240 | and I'll teach you

00:29:10.880 | how to do that

00:29:11.320 | in just a moment

00:29:11.920 | here.

00:29:12.160 | The point

00:29:13.180 | is that

00:29:14.120 | the vagus nerve

00:29:15.160 | does carry

00:29:15.960 | sort of classic

00:29:17.160 | parasympathetic

00:29:18.060 | information.

00:29:18.600 | If you're asked

00:29:19.680 | on an exam,

00:29:20.400 | students,

00:29:21.000 | med students,

00:29:21.860 | I don't want

00:29:22.360 | to be responsible

00:29:22.880 | for you getting

00:29:23.380 | this wrong.

00:29:23.840 | I'd love to be

00:29:24.340 | responsible for you

00:29:24.980 | getting it right.

00:29:25.480 | I teach neuroanatomy

00:29:26.320 | to medical students.

00:29:27.040 | If you're asked,

00:29:28.460 | is cranial nerve 10,

00:29:31.420 | the vagus nerve,

00:29:32.280 | parasympathetic

00:29:33.100 | or sympathetic,

00:29:33.600 | you should answer

00:29:34.440 | parasympathetic.

00:29:35.800 | If you're asked

00:29:36.360 | if it's sensory

00:29:36.940 | or motor,

00:29:37.400 | you should say

00:29:38.080 | it's mixed,

00:29:38.600 | it's both.

00:29:39.180 | So it's mixed

00:29:40.020 | parasympathetic.

00:29:40.760 | However,

00:29:41.300 | for everybody out there,

00:29:42.800 | med student or not,

00:29:43.700 | just understand

00:29:44.620 | that when you activate

00:29:45.380 | certain branches

00:29:46.020 | of the vagus nerve,

00:29:46.980 | you're either going

00:29:47.680 | to get an elevation

00:29:48.680 | in alertness,

00:29:49.440 | that is an increase

00:29:50.500 | in sympathetic

00:29:50.920 | nervous system activity

00:29:51.840 | or a decrease

00:29:53.100 | in alertness,

00:29:54.060 | that is an elevation

00:29:55.020 | in parasympathetic activity

00:29:56.500 | depending on which branch

00:29:57.880 | you activate

00:29:58.340 | and the context matters.

00:30:00.880 | So if you want

00:30:02.200 | to relax,

00:30:02.680 | you can rub

00:30:03.200 | behind your ears,

00:30:03.840 | you can rub

00:30:04.320 | inside your ears.

00:30:05.380 | If you have permission,

00:30:06.240 | you can do that

00:30:06.800 | to the person next

00:30:07.520 | to you if they like it.

00:30:09.320 | But it's not the case

00:30:12.360 | that activating

00:30:13.080 | any branch

00:30:14.000 | of the vagus nerve

00:30:14.920 | is going to calm us down.

00:30:16.200 | That's simply not the case.

00:30:17.680 | And in a moment,

00:30:18.420 | I'll tell you why.

00:30:19.760 | I'd like to take

00:30:20.360 | a quick break

00:30:20.920 | and acknowledge

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00:32:02.480 | of red lens glasses.

00:32:03.840 | These red lens glasses

00:32:05.440 | are meant to be worn

00:32:06.140 | in the evening

00:32:06.680 | after the sun goes down.

00:32:08.040 | They filter out

00:32:09.060 | short wavelength light

00:32:10.060 | that comes from screens

00:32:10.960 | and from LED lights,

00:32:12.020 | which are the most common

00:32:13.480 | indoor lighting nowadays.

00:32:14.540 | I want to emphasize

00:32:15.780 | Roca red lens glasses

00:32:16.860 | are not traditional

00:32:17.860 | blue blockers.

00:32:18.600 | They do filter out

00:32:20.040 | blue light,

00:32:20.520 | but they filter out

00:32:21.260 | a lot more

00:32:21.840 | than just blue light.

00:32:22.640 | In fact,

00:32:23.060 | they filter out

00:32:23.840 | the full range

00:32:24.620 | of short wavelength light

00:32:25.760 | that suppresses

00:32:26.620 | the hormone melatonin.

00:32:27.700 | By the way,

00:32:28.200 | you want melatonin high

00:32:29.540 | in the evening

00:32:30.080 | and at night.

00:32:30.560 | It makes it easy

00:32:31.280 | to fall and stay asleep.

00:32:32.380 | And those short wavelengths

00:32:34.240 | trigger increases

00:32:35.400 | in cortisol.

00:32:36.100 | Increases in cortisol

00:32:37.640 | are great in the early

00:32:38.860 | part of the day,

00:32:39.480 | but you do not want

00:32:40.560 | increases in cortisol

00:32:41.380 | in the evening

00:32:42.120 | and at night.

00:32:42.840 | These Roca red lens glasses

00:32:44.060 | ensure normal,

00:32:45.200 | healthy increases

00:32:46.080 | in melatonin

00:32:46.840 | and that your cortisol

00:32:48.140 | levels stay low,

00:32:49.160 | which is, again,

00:32:49.880 | what you want

00:32:50.700 | in the evening

00:32:51.220 | and at night.

00:32:51.860 | In doing so,

00:32:53.040 | these Roca red lens glasses

00:32:54.340 | really help you calm down

00:32:55.660 | and improve your transition

00:32:56.980 | to sleep.

00:32:57.680 | Roca red lens glasses

00:32:58.940 | also look great.

00:32:59.820 | They have a ton

00:33:00.340 | of different frames

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00:33:02.640 | out to dinner

00:33:03.220 | or concerts

00:33:03.960 | and you can still see things.

00:33:05.160 | I don't recommend

00:33:05.700 | you wear them while driving

00:33:06.740 | just for safety purposes,

00:33:07.820 | but if you're out to dinner,

00:33:09.320 | you're at a concert,

00:33:09.940 | you're at a friend's house

00:33:10.780 | or you're just at home,

00:33:12.100 | pop those Roca red lens glasses

00:33:13.320 | on and you'll really notice

00:33:14.460 | the difference in terms

00:33:15.260 | of your levels of calm

00:33:16.400 | and all the sleep stuff

00:33:17.500 | I mentioned earlier.

00:33:18.320 | So it really is possible

00:33:19.760 | to support your biology,

00:33:20.880 | be scientific about it

00:33:22.460 | and remain social

00:33:23.640 | at the same time

00:33:24.640 | if you like.

00:33:25.300 | If you'd like to try Roca,

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00:33:33.160 | your first order.

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00:33:35.800 | and enter the code Huberman

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00:33:38.260 | Okay,

00:33:38.500 | so we've talked about

00:33:39.520 | all the sensory information

00:33:41.060 | coming in from behind the ear,

00:33:42.600 | from deep in the ear,

00:33:44.140 | from the body,

00:33:44.980 | coursing up past

00:33:46.520 | no-dose ganglion

00:33:47.260 | into the brainstem.

00:33:48.920 | I told you earlier

00:33:50.820 | and it's still true now

00:33:51.920 | that 85%

00:33:53.340 | of the vagus nerve pathways

00:33:55.560 | are sensory in nature,

00:33:57.700 | carrying chemical

00:33:58.540 | and mechanical information.

00:33:59.540 | So what about

00:34:00.240 | this other 15%

00:34:01.740 | of the vagus nerve

00:34:02.600 | that is not carrying

00:34:03.980 | sensory information

00:34:04.860 | from the body,

00:34:06.500 | from the head

00:34:07.520 | into these brainstem nuclei?

00:34:09.200 | By the way,

00:34:10.460 | when I say brainstem nuclei,

00:34:11.800 | I don't mean nuclei

00:34:14.440 | in the context of one neuron.

00:34:15.680 | This can be a little bit confusing,

00:34:16.800 | but when we hear

00:34:17.600 | about the nucleus of a neuron,

00:34:19.380 | we mean the area

00:34:20.240 | that generally contains

00:34:21.380 | the DNA

00:34:22.380 | and we're distinguishing it

00:34:24.700 | from the axon

00:34:25.420 | and the other parts.

00:34:26.160 | When we hear

00:34:26.820 | about a nucleus

00:34:27.560 | in the brain,

00:34:28.240 | these neuroanatomists

00:34:29.640 | should have been more creative,

00:34:30.420 | but when we're hearing

00:34:31.340 | about a nucleus

00:34:31.940 | in the brain,

00:34:32.560 | it means a collection

00:34:34.100 | of different neurons,

00:34:35.040 | so a big group of neurons.

00:34:36.980 | So when I say

00:34:37.540 | brainstem nuclei,

00:34:38.600 | I mean a lot of neurons,

00:34:39.700 | thousands of neurons

00:34:40.840 | in little clumps there

00:34:42.160 | that we call nuclei.

00:34:43.080 | So the vagus nerve

00:34:45.720 | includes different nuclei,

00:34:47.260 | different collections

00:34:48.300 | of neurons,

00:34:49.460 | and these neurons

00:34:50.800 | have what we call

00:34:51.720 | efferents,

00:34:52.320 | outputs to,

00:34:53.980 | as you might have guessed,

00:34:55.660 | the body,

00:34:56.520 | back to the various

00:34:58.640 | organs of the body.

00:34:59.600 | They also have connections

00:35:00.800 | to things

00:35:01.700 | within the head

00:35:02.960 | and face area,

00:35:04.020 | but for the time being,

00:35:05.520 | I'm mostly going

00:35:06.220 | to talk about

00:35:06.820 | the motor outputs

00:35:08.560 | of the vagus nerve

00:35:09.520 | that come from

00:35:10.100 | these brainstem nuclei.

00:35:11.180 | So these motor outputs

00:35:12.900 | are not themselves

00:35:14.720 | paying attention

00:35:15.480 | to mechanical

00:35:16.300 | or chemical information.

00:35:17.940 | They are going

00:35:18.640 | to control

00:35:19.540 | the organs

00:35:20.480 | of the body.

00:35:21.100 | This is extremely

00:35:22.880 | important

00:35:23.380 | if you want

00:35:24.120 | to be able

00:35:24.400 | to understand

00:35:24.960 | and leverage

00:35:25.620 | your vagus nerve

00:35:26.360 | for health

00:35:27.120 | and well-being,

00:35:27.600 | mental health,

00:35:28.120 | physical health,

00:35:28.700 | performance,

00:35:29.520 | and even

00:35:30.140 | for accelerated learning.

00:35:31.980 | I guess that would fall

00:35:32.600 | under performance

00:35:33.340 | or for recovery

00:35:34.420 | from different diseases.

00:35:35.280 | There are really nice papers

00:35:36.400 | starting to emerge

00:35:37.180 | that if you can selectively

00:35:38.640 | activate these motor pathways,

00:35:40.080 | you can accelerate

00:35:41.620 | and increase

00:35:43.080 | the recovery

00:35:43.660 | from stroke.

00:35:44.360 | So this is

00:35:45.240 | of serious significance.

00:35:46.680 | But for those of us

00:35:48.100 | that fortunately

00:35:48.840 | don't have strokes,

00:35:49.620 | it's still of serious significance.

00:35:51.180 | And in fact,

00:35:51.980 | right now,

00:35:52.360 | I'm going to tell you

00:35:53.000 | about an actionable tool

00:35:54.080 | whereby you can leverage

00:35:55.360 | one of these motor pathways

00:35:56.500 | to a very specific

00:35:58.240 | endpoint anytime you want.

00:35:59.720 | So let's talk about

00:36:00.820 | how you can leverage

00:36:01.580 | these motor pathways

00:36:02.520 | of the vagus

00:36:03.180 | in order to what's

00:36:04.380 | called auto-regulate.

00:36:05.480 | Auto-regulation

00:36:06.660 | is not just

00:36:07.300 | a fancy word

00:36:08.260 | for calming down.

00:36:09.360 | We are going

00:36:10.240 | to talk about

00:36:10.800 | calming down.

00:36:11.660 | But auto-regulation

00:36:12.860 | is the way

00:36:13.340 | in which your vagus nerve

00:36:14.480 | makes sure

00:36:15.220 | that that seesaw

00:36:16.560 | of sympathetic nervous system

00:36:18.020 | to parasympathetic

00:36:19.220 | nervous system balance

00:36:20.260 | doesn't get tilted

00:36:21.520 | too far

00:36:22.540 | to the side

00:36:23.680 | of sympathetic

00:36:24.700 | nervous system activation.

00:36:25.960 | That your levels

00:36:26.680 | of alertness,

00:36:27.380 | your heart rate,

00:36:28.380 | your breathing rate,

00:36:29.320 | et cetera,

00:36:29.800 | don't get too high.

00:36:31.480 | And the reason

00:36:32.300 | it's called auto-regulation

00:36:33.600 | and not just

00:36:34.180 | calming down

00:36:34.940 | is that auto-regulation

00:36:36.000 | is something

00:36:36.400 | that's always happening

00:36:37.520 | in the background

00:36:38.240 | as you're going

00:36:39.280 | about your daily activities.

00:36:40.360 | In fact,

00:36:40.740 | it's also happening

00:36:41.680 | while you sleep.

00:36:42.940 | In fact,

00:36:43.840 | now we're going

00:36:44.260 | to talk about

00:36:44.760 | things that you

00:36:45.200 | can do deliberately

00:36:46.080 | to indeed calm down,

00:36:48.440 | but to also increase

00:36:50.000 | the amount

00:36:50.360 | of auto-regulation

00:36:51.220 | that occurs

00:36:51.840 | during your entire day

00:36:53.240 | when you're not focusing

00:36:54.180 | on doing these

00:36:54.760 | particular protocols

00:36:55.680 | as well as during sleep

00:36:57.260 | and that will result

00:36:58.300 | in elevated

00:36:58.980 | what's called HRV

00:37:00.720 | or heart rate variability.

00:37:02.320 | Now,

00:37:02.900 | I realize that's

00:37:03.600 | a tall order,

00:37:04.220 | but what we're going

00:37:05.200 | to do is we're going

00:37:05.840 | to step through this

00:37:06.800 | first by focusing

00:37:08.100 | on the protocol

00:37:08.900 | and then now

00:37:09.700 | that you're familiar

00:37:10.300 | with all the business

00:37:11.180 | about sensory and motor

00:37:12.580 | and parasympathetic,

00:37:13.320 | now that you have

00:37:14.740 | all that science

00:37:15.420 | and nomenclature in mind,

00:37:16.480 | it will all make

00:37:17.340 | perfect sense

00:37:18.120 | as I describe

00:37:19.120 | this protocol

00:37:19.720 | for auto-regulation

00:37:20.700 | and improving HRV

00:37:21.900 | and all the protocols

00:37:23.220 | that follow.

00:37:23.760 | Okay,

00:37:24.360 | so embedded

00:37:24.960 | in your brain

00:37:26.000 | and in your vagal nerve

00:37:27.140 | pathways

00:37:27.700 | and in your body,

00:37:29.160 | you have an incredible

00:37:31.100 | neural circuit.

00:37:31.920 | This neural circuit

00:37:33.020 | is one that you

00:37:33.620 | are born with

00:37:34.420 | and it's one

00:37:35.280 | that you will have

00:37:36.140 | your entire life.

00:37:37.160 | This is also a pathway

00:37:38.400 | that you'll want

00:37:38.820 | to keep tuned up,

00:37:39.760 | that is,

00:37:40.260 | that you'll want

00:37:41.140 | to make sure

00:37:41.820 | is activated

00:37:42.480 | on a pretty frequent basis,

00:37:43.820 | super easy to do

00:37:44.940 | as you'll soon see,

00:37:45.620 | so that the pathway

00:37:47.240 | does not deteriorate.

00:37:48.820 | This is a pathway

00:37:50.480 | that originates

00:37:51.600 | in an area

00:37:52.140 | of your brain

00:37:52.620 | called the dorsolateral

00:37:53.840 | prefrontal cortex.

00:37:54.800 | Now,

00:37:55.100 | the dorsolateral

00:37:55.700 | prefrontal cortex,

00:37:56.600 | and by the way,

00:37:57.800 | it's the left

00:37:58.680 | dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

00:37:59.920 | in particular,

00:38:00.500 | sort of on the left upper

00:38:03.360 | part of the front

00:38:04.760 | of your skull.

00:38:05.420 | If you were

00:38:06.080 | to go deep

00:38:06.620 | to that area,

00:38:07.320 | you would be

00:38:08.080 | on the left

00:38:09.200 | dorsal top

00:38:10.600 | lateral side

00:38:11.940 | prefrontal cortex

00:38:13.500 | kind of toward the front

00:38:14.360 | right behind your forehead.

00:38:15.400 | Okay,

00:38:15.740 | dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

00:38:16.860 | sits deep

00:38:17.620 | to that area.

00:38:18.300 | The dorsolateral

00:38:20.220 | prefrontal cortex

00:38:20.980 | has outputs

00:38:21.740 | to a couple

00:38:22.220 | of other brain areas

00:38:23.160 | called the cingulate,

00:38:24.140 | called the insula.

00:38:25.040 | You don't have to worry

00:38:25.740 | about those names

00:38:26.360 | unless you're really

00:38:26.920 | interested in them.

00:38:27.580 | Those areas

00:38:28.780 | have communication

00:38:30.020 | with one of the

00:38:31.320 | brainstem nuclei,

00:38:33.020 | one of those brainstem areas

00:38:34.320 | that gets input

00:38:35.320 | from the sensory

00:38:37.240 | pathways from the body,

00:38:38.920 | from the head

00:38:39.920 | of the vagus,

00:38:42.000 | and that also

00:38:43.040 | contains neurons

00:38:44.260 | that have motor output

00:38:45.960 | to particular areas

00:38:47.180 | of your body.

00:38:47.820 | And that brain area,

00:38:49.240 | and you're going

00:38:49.760 | to love this,

00:38:50.260 | is called

00:38:50.760 | nucleus ambiguous.

00:38:52.220 | I kid you not,

00:38:53.680 | it's called

00:38:54.260 | nucleus ambiguous.

00:38:55.560 | Nucleus ambiguous

00:38:56.820 | 器 contains some neurons

00:38:58.740 | that project

00:39:00.000 | down to what's called

00:39:01.500 | the sinoatrial node

00:39:02.880 | of the heart.

00:39:03.620 | And those neurons

00:39:05.360 | are responsible

00:39:06.100 | for deceleration

00:39:07.540 | of heart rate.

00:39:08.660 | And it turns out

00:39:10.180 | that you can selectively

00:39:11.120 | activate those neurons

00:39:12.060 | in no small part

00:39:13.180 | because they receive input,

00:39:15.020 | albeit several synapses away,

00:39:16.700 | from the left

00:39:17.940 | dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

00:39:19.540 | because the prefrontal cortex

00:39:21.140 | is involved

00:39:21.800 | in deliberate action,

00:39:23.240 | in planning

00:39:24.280 | and execution of action.

00:39:25.820 | It doesn't do it alone.

00:39:26.880 | It does it through communication

00:39:27.860 | with some other brain structures.

00:39:29.100 | But if you,

00:39:30.100 | for instance,

00:39:30.460 | decide that you're going

00:39:31.900 | to activate

00:39:32.400 | this deceleration pathway,

00:39:33.820 | you can do it.

00:39:34.820 | The beautiful thing is

00:39:36.280 | these neurons

00:39:36.820 | that also control

00:39:37.660 | deceleration of heart rate

00:39:39.060 | are active in the background.

00:39:40.720 | they're under autonomic control,

00:39:42.120 | but you can take control of them.

00:39:43.720 | When does that happen?

00:39:44.780 | Well,

00:39:45.200 | for instance,

00:39:46.060 | in sleep,

00:39:46.820 | if your heart rate

00:39:47.660 | starts to increase,

00:39:48.640 | these decelerating neurons,

00:39:50.620 | which are neurons

00:39:51.280 | of the vagus nerve,

00:39:52.200 | they're motor output neurons,

00:39:53.520 | they release acetylcholine

00:39:54.660 | and they act

00:39:55.600 | on the sinoatrial node,

00:39:56.780 | which is a node

00:39:57.960 | within the heart

00:39:58.600 | that controls heart rate

00:39:59.600 | to slow your heart rate down.

00:40:01.540 | Okay?

00:40:02.200 | This is the way

00:40:03.040 | in which your heart rate

00:40:04.040 | never gets too high.

00:40:05.420 | The seesaw

00:40:06.180 | that is the autonomic

00:40:07.120 | nervous system

00:40:07.740 | is kind of weighted

00:40:09.400 | to the sympathetic

00:40:10.080 | nervous system side.

00:40:11.120 | A simple example

00:40:11.940 | of this is

00:40:12.480 | if you have

00:40:13.720 | to stay awake,

00:40:14.460 | you can probably do it.

00:40:16.060 | At some point,

00:40:16.500 | you'll fall asleep,

00:40:17.240 | but if you really

00:40:18.760 | want to fall asleep,

00:40:19.540 | it's harder

00:40:20.060 | to make yourself

00:40:20.960 | fall asleep.

00:40:21.600 | The sympathetic nervous

00:40:22.940 | system is one

00:40:23.600 | that we can more

00:40:24.460 | easily leverage

00:40:25.320 | in order to push

00:40:26.300 | through things,

00:40:26.940 | deadlines,

00:40:27.540 | stay up to take care

00:40:28.660 | of a sick relative,

00:40:29.980 | you know,

00:40:30.400 | push ourselves

00:40:31.580 | to migrate out

00:40:32.540 | from a dangerous

00:40:33.080 | place

00:40:33.500 | or away from a famine.

00:40:34.520 | Another example

00:40:35.320 | of a dangerous place,

00:40:36.080 | I guess.

00:40:36.360 | The idea here

00:40:37.680 | is that the sympathetic

00:40:38.500 | nervous system

00:40:39.300 | has kind of a bias

00:40:40.840 | towards activity.

00:40:41.640 | And in fact,

00:40:42.240 | your heart rate

00:40:43.000 | is driven

00:40:44.440 | by the sympathetic

00:40:45.060 | nervous system

00:40:45.780 | and that heart rate

00:40:46.660 | would continue

00:40:47.360 | to accelerate

00:40:48.120 | unless there was

00:40:49.300 | this deceleration

00:40:50.260 | pathway that every

00:40:51.400 | once in a while

00:40:51.800 | would pump the brake

00:40:52.960 | on heart rate.

00:40:53.980 | And that's what

00:40:54.680 | this vagal pathway

00:40:55.680 | from nucleus ambiguous

00:40:57.400 | down to the sinoatrial

00:40:58.620 | node is doing.

00:40:59.700 | And by the way,

00:41:00.860 | this deceleration

00:41:02.040 | of heart rate

00:41:02.800 | that goes from

00:41:03.700 | the vagus motor pathway

00:41:04.920 | to the sinoatrial node

00:41:06.740 | is the basis

00:41:07.860 | of what's called HRV

00:41:09.620 | or heart rate variability.

00:41:10.760 | We hear a lot nowadays

00:41:12.220 | about heart rate variability.

00:41:13.440 | For those of you

00:41:14.360 | that have heard of it

00:41:15.060 | and for those of you

00:41:15.760 | that haven't,

00:41:16.300 | having a higher HRV

00:41:18.140 | or heart rate variability

00:41:19.440 | is a good thing, right?

00:41:21.460 | Normally,

00:41:21.880 | if you hear something

00:41:22.400 | like heart rate variability,

00:41:23.300 | sounds like a bad thing.

00:41:24.200 | Turns out it's a great thing.

00:41:25.460 | Heart rate variability

00:41:26.500 | is essentially

00:41:27.700 | the distance

00:41:28.960 | or the time rather

00:41:29.960 | between beats of the heart.

00:41:31.540 | So you might think

00:41:32.460 | that it's great

00:41:33.020 | to have a really

00:41:33.480 | consistent heart rate.

00:41:34.280 | Boom,

00:41:34.680 | doom.

00:41:35.440 | Or actually,

00:41:36.840 | in reality,

00:41:37.420 | it's more like

00:41:37.880 | doom,

00:41:38.220 | doom,

00:41:38.880 | doom.

00:41:39.080 | And I'm missing

00:41:39.820 | some of the beats

00:41:41.040 | within the waveform,

00:41:41.680 | but you get the idea.

00:41:42.780 | But actually,

00:41:43.620 | it's well known

00:41:44.680 | to be correlated

00:41:45.260 | with a number

00:41:46.200 | of positive health outcomes,

00:41:47.520 | including things

00:41:48.960 | related to brain

00:41:49.780 | and body

00:41:50.460 | and longevity

00:41:51.260 | and performance

00:41:52.340 | to have high

00:41:53.160 | heart rate variability.

00:41:54.240 | Heart rate variability

00:41:55.540 | is going to lead

00:41:57.240 | to a pattern

00:41:57.740 | of heartbeats

00:41:58.260 | that is more like

00:41:59.120 | doom,

00:41:59.620 | doom,

00:41:59.820 | doom,

00:42:00.000 | doom,

00:42:00.540 | doom,

00:42:00.820 | doom,

00:42:01.400 | doom,

00:42:01.720 | doom,

00:42:01.760 | doom,

00:42:02.300 | doom,

00:42:02.780 | doom,

00:42:03.400 | doom,

00:42:03.680 | doom,

00:42:03.920 | doom,

00:42:04.280 | doom,

00:42:04.840 | doom.

00:42:05.380 | Now,

00:42:05.660 | you might say

00:42:06.440 | that's arrhythmia.

00:42:07.600 | Ah, but there are cases

00:42:09.180 | of arrhythmia

00:42:10.000 | that are good

00:42:10.840 | and there are cases

00:42:11.680 | of arrhythmia

00:42:12.360 | that are bad.

00:42:13.200 | Higher HRV in general

00:42:15.360 | is a good thing.

00:42:16.840 | You want it during sleep

00:42:18.280 | and you want it

00:42:19.060 | during wakeful states.

00:42:20.220 | In sleep,

00:42:20.980 | heart rate variability

00:42:22.160 | comes about

00:42:22.920 | because this vagal pathway

00:42:24.400 | from nucleus ambiguous,

00:42:25.660 | so the cell bodies,

00:42:26.920 | the nuclei,

00:42:28.160 | literally the DNA

00:42:29.160 | within those nuclei

00:42:30.000 | of those neurons

00:42:30.500 | reside in nucleus ambiguous

00:42:31.900 | and they project

00:42:32.780 | to the sinoatrial node

00:42:33.840 | and every once in a while

00:42:35.120 | they'll just pump the brake

00:42:36.580 | on heart rate

00:42:37.220 | and slow heart rate down

00:42:38.520 | and then they'll come off

00:42:39.220 | that brake.

00:42:39.600 | Slow down,

00:42:40.700 | come off heart rate.

00:42:41.680 | And here's the really

00:42:42.760 | beautiful part

00:42:43.460 | and the way that you get

00:42:44.620 | actionable leverage

00:42:45.500 | over the system.

00:42:46.260 | The control by the vagus nerve

00:42:49.160 | of the sinoatrial node

00:42:50.360 | and heart rate

00:42:51.380 | is coordinated

00:42:52.940 | with your breathing.

00:42:54.280 | Now,

00:42:55.340 | as I tell you this,

00:42:56.280 | it'll make perfect sense,

00:42:57.380 | but I just want you

00:42:58.420 | to step back

00:42:58.880 | from it a second

00:42:59.460 | and realize that

00:43:00.400 | these systems of the body

00:43:02.020 | are so elegantly coordinated

00:43:03.940 | and here's how it works

00:43:05.180 | with respect to heart rate

00:43:06.180 | and breathing.

00:43:06.720 | When you inhale air,

00:43:08.700 | of course,

00:43:09.460 | your lungs expand.

00:43:10.420 | You have a muscle

00:43:11.720 | that sits below your lungs

00:43:13.320 | called the diaphragm.

00:43:14.340 | As you inhale air,

00:43:15.720 | of course,

00:43:16.480 | that diaphragm moves down.

00:43:18.020 | Now,

00:43:18.800 | as your diaphragm moves down

00:43:20.320 | and your lungs expand,

00:43:21.480 | your heart literally

00:43:23.300 | has a bit more space

00:43:24.500 | in the thoracic cavity

00:43:25.560 | to expand.

00:43:27.520 | Okay,

00:43:28.040 | it's not going to swell massively,

00:43:29.580 | but it's going to expand.

00:43:30.680 | Now,

00:43:31.720 | as a consequence

00:43:32.340 | of that expansion,

00:43:33.200 | the blood that's moving

00:43:34.460 | through your heart

00:43:35.220 | is going to move

00:43:36.420 | a little bit more slowly

00:43:37.740 | per unit volume.

00:43:39.140 | That is sensed

00:43:40.300 | by a particular group

00:43:41.260 | of neurons in your heart

00:43:42.320 | and that sends a signal

00:43:44.040 | to your sympathetic nervous system

00:43:45.500 | to speed your heart rate up.

00:43:47.620 | Put differently,

00:43:49.160 | inhaling speeds your heart rate up.

00:43:52.160 | Now,

00:43:53.360 | the converse is also true.

00:43:54.740 | When you exhale,

00:43:55.980 | your lungs deflate,

00:43:57.120 | your diaphragm moves up

00:43:58.580 | and as a consequence,

00:43:59.800 | there's slightly less space

00:44:01.080 | for the heart.

00:44:01.580 | So,

00:44:02.260 | the heart shrinks a little bit,

00:44:04.260 | not a ton,

00:44:05.500 | but it shrinks a little bit

00:44:06.680 | and it's enough

00:44:07.820 | such that whatever blood

00:44:09.360 | is in the heart

00:44:10.220 | moves through more quickly

00:44:12.320 | per unit volume.

00:44:13.440 | That faster movement

00:44:15.160 | is sensed by neurons

00:44:16.360 | within the heart,

00:44:17.000 | sends a signal to the brain

00:44:18.660 | and the brain activates

00:44:20.200 | those neurons

00:44:20.880 | within nucleus ambiguous

00:44:22.000 | and very quickly

00:44:23.360 | sends a signal

00:44:24.100 | to the sinoatrial node

00:44:25.740 | to slow your heart rate down.

00:44:27.780 | Put differently,

00:44:29.400 | exhale,

00:44:30.200 | slow your heart rate down

00:44:31.740 | and they do so

00:44:32.640 | by way of vagal control

00:44:34.060 | over the sinoatrial node.

00:44:35.780 | This is the deceleration pathway

00:44:37.780 | over heart rate.

00:44:38.900 | So,

00:44:39.660 | as I mentioned,

00:44:40.100 | this is happening

00:44:40.660 | all the time during sleep.

00:44:41.940 | You don't have to be consciously aware

00:44:43.520 | for this to happen.

00:44:44.220 | It's a fortunate consequence of nature

00:44:46.360 | that the neurons

00:44:47.800 | within your brainstem

00:44:48.580 | that control breathing

00:44:49.440 | and the neurons

00:44:50.140 | within your brainstem

00:44:50.920 | that control heart rate

00:44:51.840 | and the other neurons

00:44:53.060 | within the heart itself

00:44:54.140 | that control heart rate,

00:44:54.960 | the pacemaker cells,

00:44:55.960 | all can function

00:44:57.300 | without you having to think about it.

00:44:58.580 | That's a wonderful thing

00:44:59.620 | for obvious reasons.

00:45:00.580 | It's also the case

00:45:01.980 | that because

00:45:02.640 | we have this input

00:45:04.020 | from the left

00:45:04.740 | dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

00:45:06.340 | down through a couple

00:45:07.320 | of other structures

00:45:07.940 | like the cingulate

00:45:08.660 | and the insula

00:45:09.300 | and that converge

00:45:10.620 | on nucleus ambiguous.

00:45:11.520 | If you decide

00:45:12.880 | to slow your heart rate down,

00:45:14.400 | you can do it

00:45:15.440 | and you do so

00:45:16.620 | by doing a deliberate exhale

00:45:18.940 | and or

00:45:20.260 | by increasing

00:45:21.600 | the intensity

00:45:22.540 | or the duration

00:45:23.500 | of your exhale.

00:45:24.620 | So,

00:45:24.980 | you can do that right now.

00:45:26.040 | If you want to slow

00:45:27.420 | your heart rate down,

00:45:28.360 | that is,

00:45:28.940 | if you want to increase

00:45:30.080 | parasympathetic nervous system activity

00:45:31.780 | and you want to calm down fast,

00:45:33.380 | you can literally just

00:45:34.700 | exhales slow your heart rate down

00:45:39.500 | and exhales tilt that seesaw

00:45:41.940 | that is the autonomic nervous system

00:45:43.360 | more toward the parasympathetic side.

00:45:45.960 | Now,

00:45:46.680 | I've talked before on this podcast

00:45:47.860 | and all over social media

00:45:49.160 | about the so-called physiological sigh,

00:45:51.420 | a naturally occurring form of breathing

00:45:53.080 | that occurs in sleep

00:45:54.320 | and that we can deliberately do

00:45:55.500 | anytime we want to calm down fast.

00:45:57.340 | And the physiological sigh consists of,

00:45:59.400 | as many of you know,

00:46:00.580 | two inhales through the nose

00:46:02.240 | followed by a long

00:46:03.980 | to lungs empty exhale

00:46:05.540 | through the mouth.

00:46:06.240 | Typically,

00:46:06.880 | the first inhale is longer.

00:46:08.540 | Again,

00:46:08.860 | it's done through the nose.

00:46:09.640 | The second inhale is shorter,

00:46:10.860 | kind of a sharp inhale

00:46:12.120 | to make sure you maximally inflate

00:46:13.840 | all the little sacks

00:46:14.620 | within your lungs.

00:46:15.260 | And then the exhale

00:46:16.300 | is a long,

00:46:17.180 | slow exhale

00:46:18.160 | that dumps all your air.

00:46:20.740 | I'll just demonstrate

00:46:22.100 | the physiological sigh for you

00:46:23.360 | for those of you

00:46:23.840 | that haven't seen it.

00:46:24.520 | You, again,

00:46:25.860 | big inhale through the nose,

00:46:28.020 | second sharp inhale

00:46:28.900 | through the nose

00:46:29.420 | to make sure

00:46:29.760 | you maximally inflate the lungs

00:46:31.100 | and then long exhale

00:46:32.340 | to lungs empty.

00:46:33.460 | It goes like this.

00:46:34.300 | Okay.

00:46:51.180 | Lungs are empty.

00:46:52.100 | That is indeed

00:46:53.880 | the fastest way

00:46:54.980 | to activate

00:46:55.760 | the parasympathetic nervous system

00:46:57.240 | and to tilt that seesaw

00:46:59.020 | from levels

00:46:59.840 | of high sympathetic

00:47:01.240 | nervous system activation

00:47:02.400 | to lower levels

00:47:03.660 | of sympathetic

00:47:04.140 | nervous system activation.

00:47:05.260 | In fact,

00:47:05.580 | I immediately feel calmer.

00:47:07.060 | Maybe you can even hear it

00:47:08.100 | in my voice.

00:47:08.600 | So when you do

00:47:09.260 | a physiological effect,

00:47:10.300 | you're getting both

00:47:10.900 | a chemical signal

00:47:12.220 | into the brain.

00:47:13.160 | That is the adjustment

00:47:14.260 | of that carbon dioxide

00:47:15.420 | oxygen ratio.

00:47:16.320 | It's mainly due

00:47:17.600 | to the offloading

00:47:18.660 | of carbon dioxide.

00:47:19.480 | That lower level

00:47:21.360 | of carbon dioxide

00:47:21.980 | is registered

00:47:22.600 | by the brain

00:47:23.140 | very quickly

00:47:23.800 | and leads

00:47:24.620 | to an increase

00:47:25.260 | in calm.

00:47:25.800 | The deceleration

00:47:26.680 | of heart rate

00:47:27.480 | driven by the exhale

00:47:28.660 | is also registered

00:47:29.960 | by the brain

00:47:30.440 | very quickly,

00:47:30.980 | leads to an increase

00:47:32.180 | in calm.

00:47:32.780 | When you just

00:47:33.800 | emphasize an exhale,

00:47:35.040 | meaning you extend it

00:47:36.380 | or you make it

00:47:36.900 | more intense

00:47:37.540 | and you don't do

00:47:38.520 | the two inhales first,

00:47:39.620 | that is you don't

00:47:40.620 | do the physiological sigh,

00:47:41.860 | well,

00:47:42.700 | you get the mechanical signal

00:47:44.200 | but you don't get

00:47:44.800 | the chemical signal,

00:47:45.720 | at least not to the same

00:47:46.840 | degree you do

00:47:47.340 | with the physiological sigh.

00:47:48.520 | Put simply,

00:47:49.860 | if you want

00:47:50.580 | to calm down fast,

00:47:51.660 | ideally you do

00:47:52.980 | the physiological sigh.

00:47:54.240 | However,

00:47:54.880 | it turns out

00:47:55.460 | that one of the best ways

00:47:56.360 | to improve your HRV,

00:47:57.520 | both in sleep

00:47:58.800 | and in wakeful states,

00:47:59.920 | which takes

00:48:00.880 | a very minimum

00:48:01.940 | of effort

00:48:02.480 | and is rarely

00:48:03.320 | if ever discussed,

00:48:04.200 | is simply

00:48:05.240 | throughout the day,

00:48:06.160 | I would say 10,

00:48:07.420 | 15,

00:48:07.840 | maybe even 20 times

00:48:08.780 | per day,

00:48:09.180 | anytime it occurs

00:48:10.520 | to you

00:48:10.900 | to just deliberately

00:48:12.160 | extend your exhale,

00:48:13.200 | that is to pump

00:48:14.120 | the brake

00:48:14.520 | on your heart rate

00:48:15.320 | through the vagus nerve

00:48:16.460 | pathway

00:48:16.780 | that I've been describing,

00:48:17.600 | just

00:48:17.940 | just exhale,

00:48:20.560 | slow your heart rate down

00:48:22.120 | and then get

00:48:22.700 | about your normal routine.

00:48:23.700 | You can do that

00:48:24.640 | essentially anytime

00:48:25.560 | you remember to.

00:48:26.460 | This is literally

00:48:27.680 | going to increase

00:48:28.580 | your HRV.

00:48:29.280 | You now know

00:48:30.060 | the mechanism

00:48:30.540 | by which it does that

00:48:31.540 | and get this,

00:48:32.660 | it will also increase

00:48:33.960 | your HRV

00:48:34.620 | in sleep at night

00:48:35.880 | and the reason

00:48:36.720 | is this pathway

00:48:37.720 | that originates

00:48:38.700 | with the left

00:48:39.180 | dorsolateral

00:48:39.760 | prefrontal cortex

00:48:40.700 | and goes down

00:48:41.520 | to nucleus ambiguous

00:48:42.280 | and then to the

00:48:42.900 | sinoatrial node

00:48:43.680 | of the heart

00:48:44.120 | because it's

00:48:44.840 | under conscious control

00:48:45.860 | and because

00:48:47.940 | it's subject

00:48:48.660 | to what we call

00:48:49.280 | plasticity,

00:48:50.060 | to strengthening

00:48:50.900 | and to weakening.

00:48:52.200 | That is,

00:48:52.800 | if you use it

00:48:53.720 | deliberately,

00:48:54.600 | it gets strengthened.

00:48:55.460 | If you don't use it

00:48:56.540 | deliberately,

00:48:56.880 | it gets weakened.

00:48:57.780 | Well,

00:48:59.080 | that's a great thing

00:49:00.200 | because it means

00:49:00.800 | that if you just

00:49:01.340 | simply remember

00:49:02.240 | to do some

00:49:03.180 | extended exhales

00:49:04.000 | throughout the day,

00:49:04.740 | you're going

00:49:05.920 | to strengthen

00:49:06.500 | this pathway

00:49:07.120 | such that it

00:49:07.820 | operates in the

00:49:08.500 | background

00:49:08.940 | through auto-regulation

00:49:10.080 | without you ever

00:49:11.120 | having to think

00:49:11.900 | about it.

00:49:12.320 | Now,

00:49:12.840 | of course,

00:49:13.100 | that effect wears off

00:49:14.220 | over time

00:49:14.780 | if you don't

00:49:15.520 | occasionally remember

00:49:16.280 | to just do

00:49:16.780 | some longer exhales.

00:49:18.620 | But this is a

00:49:19.560 | wonderful protocol

00:49:20.340 | in my opinion

00:49:20.940 | because it capitalizes

00:49:22.660 | on an inborn circuit,

00:49:24.540 | right?

00:49:24.920 | A circuit that you

00:49:25.500 | were born with

00:49:26.160 | that is already

00:49:27.560 | installed

00:49:28.140 | that you can use

00:49:29.120 | at any point.

00:49:29.780 | It doesn't take

00:49:30.340 | any learning

00:49:31.020 | but that if you

00:49:31.760 | just ping

00:49:32.320 | every once in a while

00:49:33.180 | with some extended

00:49:34.060 | exhales throughout the day,

00:49:35.120 | it takes essentially

00:49:35.860 | no time.

00:49:36.580 | You get the benefit

00:49:37.220 | of feeling a little bit

00:49:38.000 | calmer,

00:49:38.320 | slowing your heart rate down

00:49:39.220 | and your HRV

00:49:40.120 | which is correlated

00:49:40.760 | with a host

00:49:41.620 | of positive health

00:49:42.380 | outcomes

00:49:42.780 | in the short

00:49:43.740 | and long term

00:49:44.640 | will increase.

00:49:45.760 | Two interesting things

00:49:47.000 | everyone should be aware

00:49:47.820 | of is that

00:49:48.580 | as we age,

00:49:49.700 | of course,

00:49:50.360 | a number of things

00:49:50.900 | happen,

00:49:51.240 | memory gets

00:49:52.260 | slightly to much

00:49:53.320 | poorer,

00:49:53.680 | all right?

00:49:54.220 | There are ways

00:49:54.540 | to offset that.

00:49:55.280 | Heart rate variability

00:49:57.300 | gets much worse.

00:49:58.660 | Now,

00:49:59.760 | an interesting finding

00:50:00.880 | from Nolan Williams'

00:50:02.040 | lab at Stanford

00:50:02.740 | is that if you

00:50:03.840 | activate

00:50:04.500 | dorsolateral prefrontal

00:50:05.680 | cortex

00:50:06.020 | using what's called

00:50:07.440 | transcranial magnetic

00:50:08.440 | stimulation,

00:50:09.020 | this is a procedure

00:50:10.020 | where you take

00:50:10.500 | a stimulator

00:50:11.180 | and you non-invasively

00:50:12.940 | place it on the skull

00:50:14.240 | outside and just above

00:50:15.840 | dorsolateral prefrontal

00:50:17.140 | cortex

00:50:17.400 | and you stimulate

00:50:18.280 | through the skull

00:50:19.100 | dorsolateral prefrontal

00:50:20.120 | cortex,

00:50:20.480 | you observe,

00:50:22.200 | as you would expect,

00:50:23.660 | a deceleration

00:50:24.380 | of heart rate

00:50:25.140 | and it's known

00:50:26.160 | to be carried

00:50:26.780 | through this vagal

00:50:27.660 | pathway to the

00:50:28.400 | sinoatrial node.

00:50:29.280 | Even after the

00:50:31.420 | stimulation is removed,

00:50:32.500 | you find that

00:50:34.100 | heart rate variability

00:50:34.920 | increases because

00:50:36.220 | this pathway

00:50:36.880 | has been stimulated

00:50:38.100 | into neuroplasticity.

00:50:40.060 | It's strengthened.

00:50:40.980 | The other way

00:50:41.900 | to strengthen

00:50:42.260 | this pathway

00:50:42.840 | is to do exactly

00:50:43.660 | what I just described,

00:50:44.460 | to deliberately

00:50:45.220 | engage this long

00:50:46.320 | exhale mechanism

00:50:47.200 | various times

00:50:48.220 | throughout the day.

00:50:48.860 | Now,

00:50:49.340 | if you miss a day,

00:50:50.040 | is the pathway

00:50:50.560 | going to atrophy?

00:50:51.220 | No.

00:50:51.760 | If you do it 50 times a day,

00:50:53.320 | is it going to strengthen

00:50:54.140 | more than if you do it

00:50:54.980 | one time per day?

00:50:55.700 | Yes.

00:50:56.260 | Do we know

00:50:56.900 | the exact thresholds

00:50:57.960 | of how many times per day

00:50:58.880 | you should be doing

00:50:59.400 | these deliberate exhales

00:51:00.260 | in order to keep

00:51:01.060 | this pathway robust?

00:51:01.940 | No.

00:51:02.580 | Unfortunately,

00:51:03.280 | we do not.

00:51:04.080 | However,

00:51:04.800 | we do know

00:51:06.020 | that in human patients

00:51:07.280 | that suffer atrophy

00:51:08.700 | of the dorsolateral

00:51:09.460 | prefrontal cortex

00:51:10.380 | that's associated

00:51:11.200 | with normal aging

00:51:12.100 | or with accelerated

00:51:13.980 | atrophy of dorsolateral

00:51:15.300 | prefrontal cortex

00:51:16.020 | or lesions of dorsolateral

00:51:17.340 | prefrontal cortex

00:51:18.140 | that tend to occur

00:51:18.980 | in older people

00:51:20.080 | who get strokes

00:51:20.840 | or just associated

00:51:22.340 | with the normal aging process,

00:51:23.620 | heart rate variability

00:51:25.000 | declines with age.

00:51:26.860 | And it is now thought

00:51:28.360 | that heart rate variability

00:51:29.800 | declines with age,

00:51:30.900 | of course,

00:51:31.480 | in part through

00:51:32.120 | lower levels

00:51:32.700 | of physical activity

00:51:33.640 | because there are,

00:51:34.340 | of course,

00:51:34.700 | certain forms

00:51:35.300 | of physical activity

00:51:36.160 | like high intensity

00:51:37.400 | interval training

00:51:38.280 | to keep that

00:51:39.660 | heart rate variability

00:51:40.640 | elevated over time

00:51:41.720 | using exercise.

00:51:42.620 | But it's also true

00:51:44.340 | that if this pathway

00:51:45.820 | degenerates,

00:51:46.520 | you see a decrease

00:51:47.300 | in heart rate variability.

00:51:48.180 | If you keep

00:51:48.880 | this pathway engaged

00:51:50.180 | by behaviorally,

00:51:51.220 | deliberately

00:51:51.840 | doing these long exhales

00:51:53.500 | or if you take

00:51:54.820 | the more robust approach

00:51:55.860 | of transcranial magnetic

00:51:56.940 | stimulation,

00:51:57.440 | something that most people

00:51:58.500 | unfortunately won't have

00:51:59.320 | the opportunity to do,

00:52:00.460 | although maybe in the future

00:52:01.500 | there will be

00:52:02.060 | commercial devices

00:52:02.720 | that will allow us

00:52:03.340 | to do this,

00:52:03.780 | you can keep

00:52:05.260 | heart rate variability

00:52:06.140 | higher as you age,

00:52:08.200 | which,

00:52:08.880 | as I mentioned before,

00:52:09.980 | is correlated

00:52:10.540 | with a number

00:52:11.460 | of different

00:52:11.860 | positive health outcomes.

00:52:12.960 | So these pathways

00:52:14.220 | by which we can tap

00:52:15.220 | into deliberate activation

00:52:16.860 | of this vagal control

00:52:18.280 | over the sinoatrial node

00:52:19.780 | are not just incidental.

00:52:21.480 | They turn out

00:52:22.160 | to be central

00:52:22.700 | to the aging process.

00:52:23.820 | They turn out

00:52:24.700 | to be central

00:52:25.460 | to countering

00:52:26.300 | the aging process.

00:52:27.120 | And you now know

00:52:28.300 | you have some agency

00:52:29.240 | and control

00:52:29.880 | over them.

00:52:30.580 | So earlier I was

00:52:32.000 | talking about how

00:52:32.940 | despite the fact

00:52:33.940 | the vagus nerve

00:52:34.560 | is classified

00:52:35.180 | as a parasympathetic nerve,

00:52:36.980 | that it also

00:52:38.800 | can be alerting.

00:52:40.400 | It can increase

00:52:41.560 | levels of sympathetic

00:52:42.520 | nervous system activity.

00:52:43.680 | And that runs

00:52:44.840 | counter to the concept

00:52:46.020 | of parasympathetic,

00:52:47.280 | which is always

00:52:48.600 | labeled as rest

00:52:50.080 | and digest.

00:52:50.520 | I'm now going

00:52:52.480 | to tell you

00:52:52.840 | a tool that you can use

00:52:53.920 | when you're feeling

00:52:54.940 | less than energized,

00:52:56.180 | less than motivated,

00:52:57.720 | and when you need

00:52:59.700 | to exercise

00:53:00.200 | and you don't feel

00:53:01.120 | like doing it.

00:53:01.900 | And when you want

00:53:03.220 | to leverage exercise

00:53:04.400 | as a way to improve

00:53:06.120 | brain function

00:53:06.880 | and plasticity.

00:53:07.840 | It all involves

00:53:09.740 | the vagus nerve

00:53:10.460 | and it involves

00:53:11.540 | an aspect of the vagus nerve

00:53:12.740 | that very few people

00:53:14.200 | are aware of,

00:53:14.820 | but in my opinion

00:53:15.860 | is one of the coolest

00:53:17.460 | aspects of the vagus nerve.

00:53:18.820 | It's at least as cool

00:53:20.300 | as vagal control

00:53:21.420 | over heart rate variability

00:53:22.580 | and auto-regulation.

00:53:23.620 | And it goes like this.

00:53:25.240 | There's a beautiful

00:53:27.400 | set of findings

00:53:28.180 | from a guy named

00:53:29.320 | Peter Strick

00:53:30.060 | at the University

00:53:30.720 | of Pittsburgh

00:53:31.200 | who used these

00:53:32.300 | really cool methods

00:53:33.080 | for tracing connections

00:53:34.240 | between the brain

00:53:34.920 | and body

00:53:35.380 | to ask the question,

00:53:36.800 | what areas of the brain

00:53:38.620 | are communicating

00:53:39.560 | with our adrenal glands?

00:53:41.080 | Our adrenal glands

00:53:42.440 | are two glands

00:53:43.160 | that sit atop

00:53:44.120 | your two different kidneys.

00:53:45.200 | So one atop

00:53:45.960 | each kidney

00:53:46.540 | and release

00:53:47.740 | as the name suggests.

00:53:48.580 | Adrenaline.

00:53:49.800 | Adrenaline is also

00:53:50.700 | called epinephrine.

00:53:52.200 | Your adrenal glands

00:53:52.840 | also release cortisol.

00:53:54.020 | But for sake

00:53:55.420 | of this discussion,

00:53:56.040 | let's just think

00:53:56.620 | about adrenaline

00:53:57.420 | released from your adrenals.

00:53:58.760 | What he found

00:54:00.660 | through a bunch

00:54:01.660 | of experiments

00:54:02.220 | done in non-human primates

00:54:03.520 | and that seem

00:54:04.320 | to correspond very well

00:54:05.320 | to what we observe

00:54:06.080 | in humans as well

00:54:07.100 | is that there are

00:54:08.320 | three general groups

00:54:09.420 | of brain areas.

00:54:10.260 | Motor activation areas,

00:54:12.380 | so what we call

00:54:12.860 | upper motor neurons.

00:54:13.860 | So these are the neurons

00:54:14.960 | in the brain

00:54:15.440 | that control

00:54:15.880 | the lower motor neurons

00:54:16.760 | in the spinal cord

00:54:17.480 | that control

00:54:17.900 | the muscles of the body

00:54:18.960 | as well as neurons

00:54:20.780 | within our brain

00:54:21.480 | that are involved

00:54:21.960 | in cognition

00:54:22.600 | and planning

00:54:23.380 | and areas of the brain

00:54:24.940 | that are involved

00:54:25.460 | in emotion

00:54:26.080 | that can communicate

00:54:27.920 | with the adrenals

00:54:28.780 | and cause them

00:54:29.620 | to release adrenaline.

00:54:30.760 | Now that's great,

00:54:32.380 | but it sort of points

00:54:33.140 | to a pathway whereby,

00:54:34.080 | okay,

00:54:35.080 | you know you should exercise,

00:54:37.140 | you tell yourself

00:54:37.840 | you should exercise,

00:54:38.800 | you're emotional about it

00:54:40.020 | and your adrenals

00:54:41.420 | release adrenaline

00:54:42.120 | and you exercise.

00:54:43.280 | Now that's interesting,

00:54:45.100 | but what's perhaps

00:54:46.260 | far more interesting

00:54:47.480 | is that the data

00:54:49.840 | from Strick Lab

00:54:50.700 | and other labs as well

00:54:51.740 | shows that

00:54:53.000 | when we move

00:54:54.180 | the large muscles

00:54:55.000 | of our body,

00:54:55.820 | the adrenals

00:54:57.380 | release adrenaline,

00:54:58.300 | epinephrine.

00:54:59.280 | Now epinephrine

00:55:01.020 | has an activating

00:55:02.340 | sympathetic nervous system

00:55:04.100 | stimulatory effect,

00:55:05.220 | right?

00:55:05.420 | It tends to make

00:55:06.040 | the tissues of the body

00:55:07.300 | that are associated

00:55:07.940 | with movement

00:55:08.660 | and with so-called

00:55:09.600 | fight or flight,

00:55:10.400 | although again,

00:55:11.500 | fight or flight

00:55:11.940 | is kind of an extreme example.

00:55:13.200 | It tends to activate

00:55:15.700 | the organs of the body

00:55:16.820 | and make them more likely

00:55:18.180 | to be active.

00:55:18.960 | It increases the probability

00:55:20.640 | that movement will occur,

00:55:21.920 | overall body movement.

00:55:23.680 | So when we move

00:55:25.160 | the large muscles

00:55:25.820 | of our body,

00:55:26.340 | our legs

00:55:26.860 | and in particular

00:55:27.400 | our trunk muscles,

00:55:28.220 | we release adrenaline.

00:55:29.580 | That adrenaline activates

00:55:31.880 | the organs of our body

00:55:32.900 | and further makes it likely

00:55:34.660 | that we're going to move

00:55:35.600 | our musculature more

00:55:36.660 | but get this,

00:55:38.280 | adrenaline, epinephrine

00:55:39.780 | doesn't cross

00:55:40.580 | the blood-brain barrier.

00:55:41.520 | So how does it increase

00:55:43.380 | our level of alertness

00:55:44.260 | in our brain, right?

00:55:45.500 | You don't want your body

00:55:46.240 | to be super active

00:55:47.080 | and your brain

00:55:47.500 | to be kind of sleepy.

00:55:48.300 | That's not good.

00:55:49.440 | That's not adaptive.

00:55:50.580 | It turns out

00:55:51.980 | that when the adrenals

00:55:53.700 | release adrenaline,

00:55:54.500 | it binds to receptors

00:55:56.160 | on the vagus nerve itself,

00:55:58.120 | those sensory axons

00:55:59.960 | that extend into the body.

00:56:01.200 | There are receptors

00:56:02.340 | on those wires, right?

00:56:03.880 | Not all the receptors

00:56:04.560 | are at one end

00:56:05.220 | or the other.

00:56:05.720 | They're also on those axons.

00:56:07.340 | The adrenaline binds

00:56:09.200 | to the receptors

00:56:09.680 | on those axons

00:56:10.540 | and the vagus nerve

00:56:11.920 | in turn releases glutamate,

00:56:15.160 | an excitatory neurotransmitter

00:56:16.980 | in a structure in the brain

00:56:18.260 | called the nucleus tractus solitaris.

00:56:20.980 | The neurons in what

00:56:21.880 | I'm just going to call

00:56:22.580 | the NTS for simplicity

00:56:23.820 | in turn activate neurons

00:56:26.860 | in a brain structure

00:56:27.720 | called the locus coeruleus.

00:56:29.480 | The locus coeruleus

00:56:31.080 | contains neurons

00:56:31.840 | that release

00:56:32.360 | that release

00:56:32.360 | what's called

00:56:32.780 | norepinephrine

00:56:33.860 | and the neurons

00:56:35.480 | of locus coeruleus

00:56:36.380 | send their axons

00:56:37.440 | out very extensively

00:56:38.500 | across the brain

00:56:39.440 | in kind of a sprinkler system

00:56:41.100 | like organization

00:56:42.000 | such that

00:56:43.280 | when you move

00:56:44.440 | the large musculature

00:56:45.320 | of your body,

00:56:45.980 | you release adrenaline.

00:56:47.260 | That adrenaline activates

00:56:49.160 | the tissues of your body,

00:56:50.120 | makes them more likely to move,

00:56:51.380 | also binds to receptors

00:56:52.640 | on the vagus.

00:56:53.360 | The vagus nerve

00:56:54.460 | in turn releases glutamate,

00:56:55.920 | an excitatory neurotransmitter

00:56:57.420 | in the NTS.

00:56:58.180 | The NTS

00:56:59.120 | then passes off

00:57:00.660 | that excitatory signal

00:57:01.620 | like a bucket brigade

00:57:02.680 | off to the locus coeruleus.

00:57:04.560 | The locus coeruleus

00:57:05.640 | dumps a bunch

00:57:06.580 | of norepinephrine

00:57:07.400 | into the brain

00:57:08.220 | and increases

00:57:08.880 | your levels of alertness.

00:57:10.140 | What this means

00:57:11.440 | is that the vagus nerve

00:57:12.720 | is central

00:57:13.700 | to the process

00:57:14.440 | of using physical activity

00:57:15.980 | to make your brain

00:57:17.540 | more alert.

00:57:18.380 | And we know

00:57:18.960 | that activation

00:57:19.640 | of locus coeruleus

00:57:20.720 | makes the brain areas

00:57:22.500 | that are involved

00:57:23.440 | in motivation

00:57:24.120 | and the propensity

00:57:25.200 | to move more

00:57:26.240 | higher in levels

00:57:28.440 | of activity.

00:57:29.020 | In other words,

00:57:29.680 | if you're not feeling

00:57:30.580 | motivated to exercise

00:57:31.960 | or you're not feeling

00:57:33.340 | alert enough,

00:57:34.080 | movement of the body

00:57:35.720 | that includes

00:57:36.260 | especially the legs,

00:57:37.200 | the large muscles

00:57:37.880 | of the legs,

00:57:38.440 | the quadriceps,

00:57:39.120 | hamstrings,

00:57:39.540 | et cetera,

00:57:40.000 | as well as the trunk

00:57:41.240 | muscles of the body

00:57:42.100 | stimulate this pathway

00:57:43.900 | in a kind of

00:57:44.500 | dominoing effect

00:57:45.940 | that makes

00:57:46.900 | the likelihood

00:57:47.960 | and believe it or not

00:57:49.500 | the desire to move

00:57:50.840 | much more likely.

00:57:53.200 | This I've personally

00:57:54.360 | found to be an immensely

00:57:55.680 | useful piece of information

00:57:57.640 | because sure,

00:57:59.140 | I knew that sometimes

00:58:00.340 | I would go to the gym

00:58:01.320 | or I'd head out on a run

00:58:02.580 | and I wasn't feeling

00:58:03.260 | motivated

00:58:03.760 | or I'd sit down

00:58:05.220 | to do some work

00:58:05.760 | and I'd feel kind of sleepy

00:58:06.800 | despite the fact

00:58:07.560 | that I'd slept pretty well

00:58:08.340 | the night before

00:58:08.920 | and eaten just fine

00:58:10.040 | and the room

00:58:10.380 | wasn't too warm,

00:58:11.080 | et cetera.

00:58:11.520 | And I feel kind of lethargic

00:58:13.140 | and I was like,

00:58:13.540 | what's going on here?

00:58:14.400 | And yes,

00:58:16.580 | I had the experience

00:58:17.560 | of sometimes,

00:58:18.220 | you know,

00:58:18.580 | doing a bit of a warmup,

00:58:19.840 | maybe some light calisthenics,

00:58:21.260 | maybe a few warmup sets

00:58:22.640 | or jogging for a little while

00:58:23.720 | and then finding

00:58:24.160 | that my levels

00:58:24.680 | of alertness increased.

00:58:25.700 | But I've also had

00:58:27.140 | just as often

00:58:27.800 | the experience

00:58:28.480 | of not feeling

00:58:30.140 | that motivation

00:58:31.160 | for physical activity

00:58:32.540 | or for cognitive activity

00:58:34.200 | come online,

00:58:34.880 | especially if I wasn't

00:58:35.880 | extremely interested

00:58:36.740 | in that activity

00:58:37.560 | or that thing

00:58:38.680 | that I was supposed

00:58:39.200 | to learn.

00:58:39.640 | You know,

00:58:40.040 | it's very easy

00:58:40.620 | to be excited

00:58:41.400 | when we want

00:58:42.020 | to do the activity

00:58:42.700 | or we want to learn

00:58:43.620 | the thing

00:58:43.860 | that we're supposed

00:58:44.300 | to be learning

00:58:45.140 | at a given moment

00:58:45.840 | or reading

00:58:46.220 | at a given moment.

00:58:46.960 | This pathway

00:58:48.080 | is immensely useful

00:58:49.580 | to understand

00:58:50.320 | because it explains

00:58:51.140 | why it is

00:58:51.780 | that even when

00:58:52.560 | you're not feeling

00:58:53.180 | motivated,

00:58:53.640 | if you do some activity

00:58:54.820 | that, yes,

00:58:55.660 | is preceded

00:58:56.560 | by a bit of a warmup,

00:58:57.580 | so maybe,

00:58:57.960 | I don't know,

00:58:58.360 | you do some light calisthenics

00:58:59.500 | or you go on the treadmill

00:59:00.220 | for a few minutes,

00:59:00.900 | walking,

00:59:01.300 | then maybe a little bit faster,

00:59:02.280 | that it can increase

00:59:03.860 | your levels

00:59:04.280 | of alertness

00:59:04.900 | and motivation.

00:59:06.080 | but it especially

00:59:08.260 | explains how

00:59:08.980 | if you put

00:59:10.100 | in some effort

00:59:10.860 | that at the moment

00:59:11.720 | feels like

00:59:12.420 | a big exertion,

00:59:13.440 | your entire body

00:59:15.480 | and brain state

00:59:16.240 | shifts in a way

00:59:17.520 | that levels

00:59:17.980 | of motivation

00:59:18.560 | and energy

00:59:19.400 | to do more physical work

00:59:20.940 | or more cognitive work

00:59:22.220 | or both

00:59:22.760 | increases dramatically

00:59:24.360 | and these are not

00:59:25.180 | small effects

00:59:25.780 | when they've been measured.

00:59:26.540 | In fact,

00:59:27.380 | for all the talk

00:59:28.940 | that's out there

00:59:29.580 | in kind of pop psychology

00:59:30.800 | and in kind of pop neuroscience

00:59:33.040 | about the vagus

00:59:34.820 | being a calming path

00:59:36.060 | pathway.

00:59:36.280 | All the neurophysiologists

00:59:38.840 | out there

00:59:39.340 | and I know

00:59:39.660 | there aren't very many

00:59:40.440 | but I'm friends

00:59:41.320 | with a lot

00:59:41.660 | of neurophysiologists,

00:59:42.560 | they'll all tell you

00:59:44.160 | that if they're doing

00:59:45.240 | a surgery

00:59:45.740 | or they're doing

00:59:47.020 | some sort of brain recording

00:59:48.040 | and the animal

00:59:49.700 | or person

00:59:50.100 | that they're doing

00:59:50.540 | the brain recording

00:59:51.160 | from is starting

00:59:52.220 | to drop into a state

00:59:53.880 | of deep parasympathetic

00:59:55.680 | activity,

00:59:56.120 | they're falling asleep

00:59:57.120 | or they need

00:59:57.580 | to be more alert,

00:59:58.240 | what do they do?

00:59:59.060 | They stimulate the vagus.

01:00:00.680 | They stimulate the vagus nerve

01:00:02.260 | in order to wake up

01:00:03.240 | the brain.

01:00:03.620 | In fact,

01:00:04.000 | stimulating the vagus

01:00:05.080 | has been used

01:00:05.800 | to save people's lives

01:00:06.940 | when they are drifting

01:00:07.900 | too far down

01:00:08.840 | into deeper

01:00:10.180 | and deeper planes

01:00:10.920 | of anesthesia.

01:00:11.620 | So stimulating the vagus

01:00:13.580 | wakes up the brain

01:00:14.840 | and the way

01:00:15.620 | to stimulate the vagus

01:00:16.560 | is by way

01:00:17.260 | of these receptors

01:00:18.080 | on the vagus nerve itself

01:00:19.400 | and the way

01:00:19.860 | to do that

01:00:20.340 | without an electrical

01:00:21.320 | stimulator, right?

01:00:22.300 | Because we're not talking

01:00:22.820 | about clinical conditions here

01:00:23.880 | in order to increase levels

01:00:25.340 | of motivation,

01:00:26.240 | alertness,

01:00:26.920 | and focus

01:00:27.400 | for physical activity

01:00:28.400 | or cognitive activity

01:00:29.460 | and learning,

01:00:29.960 | et cetera,

01:00:30.880 | or simply to overcome

01:00:31.920 | lethargy and brain fog

01:00:33.180 | is to do some sort

01:00:34.640 | of physical activity

01:00:35.400 | that includes

01:00:35.900 | the large musculature

01:00:36.860 | of your body.

01:00:37.340 | These could be things

01:00:38.380 | like jumping.

01:00:39.380 | These could be things

01:00:40.480 | like actual resistance training.

01:00:42.400 | This could be running.

01:00:43.340 | This information really points

01:00:45.880 | to the idea of,

01:00:46.820 | of course,

01:00:47.660 | after a good warmup,

01:00:48.600 | doing more sprinting type activity,

01:00:51.280 | more strength type activity,

01:00:53.520 | you know,

01:00:54.040 | six repetitions

01:00:54.980 | or less

01:00:55.580 | where you're getting

01:00:56.020 | close to failure,

01:00:56.720 | this sort of thing

01:00:57.360 | to wake up the brain

01:00:58.420 | and body

01:00:58.840 | as opposed to doing

01:01:00.120 | long rhythmic activity

01:01:01.920 | that's below the threshold

01:01:03.100 | of what would activate

01:01:04.060 | a lot of adrenaline

01:01:04.840 | from the adrenals.

01:01:05.740 | So the idea

01:01:06.540 | is to get those adrenals

01:01:07.500 | to release adrenaline

01:01:08.480 | into your system.

01:01:09.240 | It won't cross

01:01:09.980 | the blood-brain barrier

01:01:10.740 | but your vagus nerve

01:01:11.880 | provides this beautiful link

01:01:13.500 | between the body

01:01:14.520 | and brain

01:01:14.840 | to match levels

01:01:15.860 | of excitation

01:01:16.600 | from the body

01:01:17.740 | to the brain

01:01:18.360 | and you can leverage that.

01:01:19.660 | In addition,

01:01:20.460 | there's also

01:01:21.920 | the well-described effects

01:01:23.120 | and I've done

01:01:23.480 | an entire episode

01:01:24.200 | about this

01:01:24.800 | of how exercise

01:01:26.420 | can improve brain plasticity

01:01:28.060 | and the ability to learn

01:01:29.240 | and while there are

01:01:30.320 | a host of mechanisms

01:01:31.260 | involving long-term changes

01:01:32.620 | in things like

01:01:33.240 | brain-derived nootrophic factor

01:01:34.920 | and increases in lactate

01:01:36.880 | which might open the door

01:01:37.760 | to plasticity

01:01:38.520 | and so on and so forth,

01:01:39.580 | it does seem

01:01:40.840 | that one of the major ways

01:01:43.400 | that exercise improves

01:01:44.780 | our brain function

01:01:45.680 | and our ability to learn

01:01:46.960 | is simply by increasing

01:01:48.760 | our levels of alertness

01:01:50.180 | and I should say

01:01:50.900 | the word simply

01:01:51.820 | placed in there

01:01:52.680 | is probably a bit unfair.

01:01:54.140 | There is absolutely

01:01:55.280 | nothing trivial

01:01:56.000 | about using exercise

01:01:57.240 | as a way to stimulate

01:01:58.220 | a sort of cascade

01:01:59.320 | of this neural circuit

01:02:00.500 | from the adrenals

01:02:01.220 | up the vagus

01:02:01.840 | and into locus coeruleus

01:02:03.080 | in order to wake up

01:02:04.620 | your brain networks

01:02:05.380 | that are involved

01:02:05.940 | in motivation,

01:02:06.560 | focus and learning.

01:02:07.800 | As we'll talk about

01:02:09.200 | in a few minutes,

01:02:09.780 | many of us,

01:02:10.560 | most of us perhaps

01:02:11.740 | are used to using

01:02:13.000 | pharmacology

01:02:13.780 | like caffeine

01:02:14.460 | or other stimulants

01:02:15.280 | in order to try

01:02:16.100 | and wake up levels

01:02:16.820 | of alertness in the brain

01:02:17.680 | and I'm not being

01:02:18.320 | disparaging of that.

01:02:19.180 | I am an avid consumer

01:02:20.900 | of caffeine

01:02:21.540 | in the form of yerba mate

01:02:22.600 | or coffee.

01:02:23.660 | I'll occasionally

01:02:24.120 | take an alpha GPC

01:02:25.880 | or an L-tyrosine

01:02:27.040 | as well.

01:02:27.500 | You know,

01:02:27.700 | I do all those things.

01:02:28.780 | However,

01:02:29.180 | in my opinion,

01:02:29.980 | it's far more powerful

01:02:31.600 | to be able to leverage,

01:02:32.720 | that is,

01:02:33.080 | to activate these levels

01:02:34.540 | of alertness

01:02:35.020 | in your brain

01:02:35.520 | and body

01:02:35.980 | in a way

01:02:36.580 | that doesn't require

01:02:37.460 | any pharmacology

01:02:38.280 | if you don't have

01:02:38.760 | it available to you

01:02:39.560 | or you're trying

01:02:40.000 | to avoid pharmacology

01:02:41.040 | or working out

01:02:41.620 | late at night

01:02:42.180 | or you want to focus

01:02:42.960 | later at night

01:02:43.620 | and you don't want

01:02:44.740 | to be kept awake

01:02:45.620 | by the caffeine

01:02:46.300 | or even if you consume

01:02:47.520 | caffeine

01:02:47.860 | or other stimulants.

01:02:48.720 | Knowing the organization

01:02:50.260 | of these neural circuits

01:02:51.240 | from the body

01:02:51.760 | to the brain

01:02:52.220 | and how they match

01:02:52.840 | levels of alertness

01:02:53.620 | and leveraging them

01:02:54.820 | is so straightforward

01:02:56.100 | but most people

01:02:57.260 | don't actually get

01:02:58.280 | to the point

01:02:58.760 | where they're doing

01:02:59.440 | that high intensity work

01:03:00.580 | or they're doing

01:03:01.800 | the work that involves

01:03:02.580 | the large musculature

01:03:03.360 | of their body

01:03:03.800 | when they're feeling

01:03:04.420 | not motivated.

01:03:05.520 | In fact,

01:03:06.080 | they usually do

01:03:06.600 | the opposite thing.

01:03:07.400 | Now,

01:03:07.620 | sometimes you need rest days.

01:03:08.720 | This is true, right?

01:03:09.660 | You need to rest

01:03:10.220 | and recover

01:03:10.600 | to make progress.

01:03:11.320 | You don't want

01:03:12.020 | to exhaust yourself.

01:03:12.660 | You need to get sleep.

01:03:13.480 | You need to take care

01:03:14.180 | of yourself.

01:03:14.600 | However,

01:03:15.440 | the reason we're talking

01:03:16.240 | about this

01:03:16.640 | is it's a beautiful

01:03:17.600 | opportunity

01:03:18.120 | to A,

01:03:19.100 | explain that the vagus nerve

01:03:21.140 | is not just about

01:03:22.140 | calming down.

01:03:22.820 | It's actually actively used

01:03:24.760 | to wake up your brain

01:03:26.000 | when your body is active,

01:03:27.340 | when the large musculature

01:03:28.920 | of your body is active.

01:03:29.960 | And B,

01:03:30.940 | that like with

01:03:32.460 | auto-regulation,

01:03:33.620 | this stuff is under

01:03:35.480 | conscious control.

01:03:36.560 | Yes,

01:03:37.860 | if you were to be

01:03:38.560 | frightened immediately,

01:03:39.340 | this is the same pathway

01:03:40.860 | that would be reflexively

01:03:41.920 | activated by an intruder

01:03:43.180 | or by,

01:03:43.620 | you know,

01:03:44.020 | a big explosion

01:03:44.760 | or something of that sort,

01:03:45.640 | your body would wake up,

01:03:46.660 | release adrenaline,

01:03:47.480 | then that adrenaline

01:03:48.240 | would set up

01:03:49.020 | along this cascade

01:03:50.280 | and your mind

01:03:50.900 | would be immediately

01:03:51.480 | alert as well.

01:03:52.160 | There's some parallel

01:03:52.800 | mechanisms too

01:03:53.800 | to make sure

01:03:54.360 | that your brain

01:03:54.900 | and your body

01:03:55.500 | are alert immediately.

01:03:56.460 | But when you start

01:03:58.100 | to understand

01:03:58.660 | what these pathways are

01:03:59.860 | and that they are

01:04:00.460 | very specific

01:04:01.240 | and very powerful,

01:04:02.560 | potent inroads

01:04:03.640 | into activating

01:04:04.940 | these circuits,

01:04:05.500 | it does indeed

01:04:06.560 | give you a tremendous

01:04:07.480 | amount of agency,

01:04:08.460 | especially for those of you

01:04:10.400 | that might think

01:04:10.960 | you're not motivated

01:04:12.000 | to exercise

01:04:12.500 | or you're always

01:04:13.220 | lethargic

01:04:13.720 | or you have brain fog.

01:04:14.720 | There might be

01:04:15.260 | other reasons for that

01:04:16.240 | but for many people,

01:04:18.080 | chances are

01:04:18.860 | you're not getting

01:04:19.860 | past that threshold

01:04:20.860 | whereby these circuits

01:04:22.180 | involving the vagus

01:04:22.980 | can be activated

01:04:23.700 | and now you know how.

01:04:24.860 | So activate them.

01:04:26.100 | I'd like to take

01:04:27.440 | a quick break

01:04:28.040 | and acknowledge

01:04:28.620 | one of our sponsors,

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01:04:30.180 | Last year,

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01:05:07.560 | For example,

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01:05:18.480 | which included limiting

01:05:19.380 | my tuna consumption.

01:05:20.360 | I've been eating

01:05:21.440 | a lot of tuna

01:05:22.000 | while also making an effort

01:05:23.420 | to eat more leafy greens

01:05:24.540 | and supplementing

01:05:25.280 | with NAC

01:05:25.780 | and acetylcysteine

01:05:26.760 | both of which can support

01:05:27.900 | glutathione production

01:05:28.880 | and detoxification.

01:05:30.060 | And I should say

01:05:30.980 | by taking a second

01:05:31.720 | Function test,

01:05:32.400 | that approach worked.

01:05:33.800 | Comprehensive blood testing

01:05:35.140 | is vitally important.

01:05:36.400 | There's so many things

01:05:37.520 | related to your mental

01:05:38.300 | and physical health

01:05:39.120 | that can only be detected

01:05:40.760 | in a blood test.

01:05:41.620 | The problem is

01:05:42.660 | blood testing

01:05:43.140 | has always been

01:05:43.640 | very expensive

01:05:44.280 | and complicated.

01:05:45.160 | In contrast,

01:05:46.020 | I've been super impressed

01:05:47.100 | by Function's simplicity

01:05:48.340 | and at the level of cost.

01:05:50.340 | It is very affordable.

01:05:51.380 | As a consequence,

01:05:52.300 | I decided to join

01:05:53.320 | their scientific advisory board

01:05:54.700 | and I'm thrilled

01:05:55.560 | that they're sponsoring

01:05:56.240 | the podcast.

01:05:56.740 | If you'd like to try Function,

01:05:58.660 | you can go to

01:05:59.480 | functionhealth.com

01:06:00.600 | slash Huberman.

01:06:01.420 | Function currently

01:06:02.460 | has a wait list

01:06:03.080 | of over 250,000 people

01:06:04.760 | but they're offering

01:06:06.240 | early access

01:06:06.960 | to Huberman podcast listeners.

01:06:08.460 | Again,

01:06:09.080 | that's functionhealth.com

01:06:11.020 | slash Huberman

01:06:11.820 | to get early access

01:06:13.000 | to function.

01:06:13.700 | I just got done telling you

01:06:15.120 | how you can increase

01:06:15.860 | your levels of alertness

01:06:16.740 | by activating

01:06:17.640 | this vagal nerve pathway

01:06:18.680 | from the body

01:06:19.300 | to the brain

01:06:19.860 | and that increasing

01:06:21.300 | your level of alertness

01:06:22.340 | allows for more opportunity

01:06:24.100 | to focus and to learn.

01:06:25.760 | But when we say focus

01:06:26.820 | and learn,

01:06:27.160 | what we're really talking

01:06:27.980 | about is neuroplasticity,

01:06:29.640 | this incredible feature

01:06:30.880 | of your nervous system

01:06:32.040 | to be able to change

01:06:33.240 | in response to experience

01:06:34.300 | in deliberate ways.

01:06:35.420 | The plasticity that you have

01:06:36.700 | when you are a child

01:06:37.820 | from the time you're born

01:06:38.900 | until about age 25

01:06:40.680 | typically can occur

01:06:42.940 | even in passive experience.

01:06:44.800 | That is,

01:06:45.380 | you're in class,

01:06:46.420 | the teacher's teaching you something,

01:06:47.700 | your brain is changing.

01:06:48.660 | Maybe you put a bit more effort

01:06:50.100 | into something,

01:06:50.700 | you're focused,

01:06:51.360 | your brain will change.

01:06:52.880 | But as we get into adulthood,

01:06:54.700 | most of our neural maps

01:06:56.700 | in the brain,

01:06:57.080 | certainly our sensory maps

01:06:58.240 | and our cortex,

01:06:58.840 | our motor maps

01:07:00.300 | that allow us to move

01:07:01.260 | in particular ways,

01:07:02.080 | those have been established.

01:07:03.920 | You can still change them,

01:07:05.520 | but they've mostly

01:07:06.820 | been established

01:07:07.560 | throughout childhood

01:07:08.400 | and into our early 20s.

01:07:09.640 | And if we want to modify

01:07:10.800 | those circuits

01:07:11.340 | with neuroplasticity,

01:07:12.380 | there are a couple

01:07:13.240 | of key requirements.

01:07:14.020 | One,

01:07:14.400 | you need to be alert.

01:07:15.440 | You can't get neuroplasticity.

01:07:17.400 | That is,

01:07:17.740 | you can't trigger neuroplasticity

01:07:19.680 | unless you're alert.

01:07:20.560 | You also have to be focused.

01:07:21.960 | This is critical

01:07:22.880 | and differentiates adult plasticity

01:07:24.720 | in a major way

01:07:25.800 | from plasticity

01:07:26.740 | when we're young

01:07:27.280 | where we can learn

01:07:27.960 | by passive exposure.

01:07:29.300 | Okay?

01:07:30.140 | When we're young,

01:07:30.940 | we can learn

01:07:31.260 | by passive exposure

01:07:32.140 | or even better

01:07:33.320 | by focused exposure.

01:07:34.680 | But when we are adults,

01:07:35.920 | we need alertness

01:07:36.840 | and we need focus.

01:07:38.100 | Just passively being exposed

01:07:40.060 | to, you know,

01:07:41.220 | music or to a motor pattern

01:07:43.480 | is not going to allow us

01:07:44.600 | to change our nervous system.

01:07:45.600 | That's been shown

01:07:46.120 | over and over again.

01:07:47.040 | Fortunately,

01:07:47.800 | what also has been shown

01:07:49.040 | over and over again

01:07:49.940 | is that if we are alert

01:07:51.900 | and we're focused

01:07:52.760 | and we are determined,

01:07:53.620 | especially if we undertake

01:07:55.040 | what's called

01:07:55.400 | incremental learning

01:07:56.280 | where we go after

01:07:57.980 | small bits of neuroplasticity

01:07:59.840 | repeatedly over time,

01:08:01.480 | we can get as much neuroplasticity

01:08:03.660 | as one observes in childhood.

01:08:05.440 | It just takes longer

01:08:06.820 | and you have to do it

01:08:07.600 | so-called incrementally.

01:08:08.660 | There's a lot to say about that,

01:08:11.400 | but for sake of today's discussion

01:08:13.080 | about the vagus nerve,

01:08:14.160 | I just want to tell you

01:08:15.360 | that there's a particular pathway

01:08:17.780 | in the brain

01:08:18.380 | that involves the molecule

01:08:20.200 | acetylcholine.

01:08:21.220 | Acetylcholine is used

01:08:23.340 | to contract the muscles.

01:08:24.540 | It's released from motor neurons

01:08:26.080 | in the spinal cord

01:08:27.060 | onto muscles

01:08:27.680 | to contract the muscles.

01:08:28.580 | It's also used in the brain

01:08:30.360 | and elsewhere in the nervous system

01:08:31.620 | and it does a lot

01:08:32.480 | of different things.

01:08:33.060 | It's actually involved

01:08:33.800 | in generating

01:08:34.340 | the rhythms of the heart,

01:08:35.660 | but acetylcholine released

01:08:38.220 | from a particular nucleus

01:08:39.480 | in the brain

01:08:40.020 | called nucleus basalis.

01:08:41.480 | The acetylcholine released

01:08:43.100 | from nucleus basalis

01:08:44.120 | is what we call

01:08:45.440 | permissive for plasticity.

01:08:47.360 | In other words,

01:08:48.280 | if you have acetylcholine

01:08:49.680 | released from nucleus basalis

01:08:51.020 | into the brain,

01:08:51.820 | plasticity is much more likely

01:08:54.340 | to occur.

01:08:54.920 | And in fact,

01:08:56.120 | acetylcholine released

01:08:57.580 | from nucleus basalis

01:08:58.560 | is sort of like a gate

01:09:00.160 | whereby if you release

01:09:01.620 | acetylcholine,

01:09:02.260 | the opportunity

01:09:03.320 | for neuroplasticity

01:09:04.500 | and learning

01:09:04.980 | is available

01:09:05.780 | for some period of time.

01:09:07.060 | So the question therefore

01:09:08.180 | becomes,

01:09:08.560 | how do you get acetylcholine

01:09:09.860 | released from nucleus basalis?

01:09:11.200 | There are these incredible

01:09:12.420 | experiments that have been done

01:09:13.460 | by Mike Merzenich

01:09:14.580 | and colleagues

01:09:15.120 | showing that if you stimulate

01:09:17.220 | nucleus basalis

01:09:18.020 | to release acetylcholine

01:09:19.100 | and you expose an animal

01:09:20.360 | or a human

01:09:20.940 | to a particular sensory stimulus,

01:09:22.680 | the brain remaps very fast

01:09:25.240 | according to that experience.

01:09:26.480 | Just enormous amounts

01:09:27.760 | of plasticity

01:09:28.420 | that you wouldn't observe otherwise.

01:09:29.660 | There are also fortunately

01:09:31.500 | experiments showing

01:09:32.400 | that if you pharmacologically

01:09:33.940 | increase acetylcholine

01:09:35.460 | that you can enhance

01:09:37.080 | the opportunity

01:09:37.800 | for neuroplasticity.

01:09:38.940 | You still need to do

01:09:39.980 | the learning.

01:09:40.700 | You still need to attempt

01:09:41.540 | to learn something.

01:09:42.280 | you still have to make

01:09:42.920 | it incremental

01:09:43.480 | but the amount of plasticity

01:09:45.220 | is significantly increased

01:09:46.880 | when there's acetylcholine

01:09:48.300 | released from nucleus basalis.

01:09:49.740 | So in the absence

01:09:51.960 | of deep brain stimulation

01:09:53.140 | using an electrode

01:09:54.120 | which most of you

01:09:55.380 | fortunately will not experience

01:09:56.720 | because it requires

01:09:57.560 | drilling down

01:09:58.140 | through the skull

01:09:58.680 | and placing an electrode

01:09:59.600 | in basalis

01:10:00.220 | and assuming that you're

01:10:02.320 | not taking anything

01:10:03.300 | to increase acetylcholine

01:10:04.620 | transmission to learn

01:10:05.640 | although there are ways

01:10:06.560 | to do that.

01:10:07.100 | I've talked about that before

01:10:08.640 | and I'll talk about that again

01:10:09.580 | in a future podcast.

01:10:10.580 | Some of those ways include

01:10:12.100 | supplementing with things

01:10:13.300 | like alpha GPC

01:10:14.260 | which is a precursor

01:10:15.360 | to acetylcholine.

01:10:16.260 | There are some other

01:10:17.540 | precursors to acetylcholine

01:10:18.940 | or things that stimulate

01:10:19.860 | the release of acetylcholine

01:10:21.040 | such as huperzine

01:10:22.180 | and things like that

01:10:22.960 | that will open the opportunity

01:10:24.560 | for enhanced plasticity

01:10:25.900 | for a few hours.

01:10:26.700 | And there is good old nicotine.

01:10:30.180 | I know the word nicotine

01:10:31.500 | brings to mind

01:10:32.700 | things like lung cancer

01:10:34.200 | because for many, many years

01:10:35.760 | many, many people

01:10:36.760 | and still now

01:10:37.420 | smoked nicotine

01:10:38.460 | in the form of cigarettes

01:10:39.360 | or vaping

01:10:40.080 | both of which I think

01:10:40.880 | are absolutely terrible

01:10:41.820 | as is dipping and snuffing

01:10:43.180 | because yes

01:10:44.600 | they increase levels

01:10:45.600 | of nicotinic acetylcholine

01:10:47.580 | receptor activation

01:10:48.540 | which is just fancy nerd speak

01:10:50.380 | for acetylcholine transmission

01:10:52.180 | in the brain

01:10:52.600 | is enhanced by nicotine

01:10:54.200 | but those delivery mechanisms

01:10:56.040 | also of course

01:10:56.900 | can give you cancer

01:10:58.000 | in the case of smoking

01:10:58.880 | dipping or snuffing

01:11:00.180 | and vaping

01:11:01.020 | despite what you hear out there

01:11:02.380 | is absolutely terrible

01:11:04.160 | for your health.

01:11:05.080 | I don't care what anybody says

01:11:06.280 | the evidence is starting

01:11:07.740 | starting to really pile up

01:11:08.700 | that vaping is bad for you.

01:11:10.080 | Now, is oral form nicotine

01:11:12.800 | bad for you

01:11:13.560 | in the form of gum

01:11:14.500 | or in the form of a pouch, etc.?

01:11:16.340 | I just want to say

01:11:17.160 | a couple of things.

01:11:17.860 | One, it's extremely habit forming.

01:11:20.480 | Two, it increases blood pressure

01:11:23.660 | and it's a vasoconstrictor.

01:11:25.520 | These drawbacks about nicotine

01:11:27.380 | are real

01:11:28.000 | and are critical to consider

01:11:29.780 | if you're going to use nicotine

01:11:30.940 | as a focusing agent

01:11:32.000 | or a so-called nootropic.

01:11:33.540 | I don't really like that word

01:11:34.920 | but if you're using nicotine

01:11:36.740 | as a way

01:11:37.260 | to enhance cognition

01:11:39.060 | and enhance neuroplasticity,

01:11:41.100 | you should know

01:11:41.800 | what the potential drawbacks are.

01:11:43.340 | Most notably,

01:11:44.140 | the habit forming

01:11:45.220 | and addicting properties

01:11:46.300 | which are very robust.

01:11:47.720 | Now, with that said,

01:11:49.000 | there are ways

01:11:49.540 | to non-pharmacologically

01:11:50.880 | stimulate

01:11:51.640 | the nucleus basalis

01:11:53.140 | acetylcholine pathway

01:11:54.280 | to enhance the window

01:11:55.560 | for plasticity

01:11:56.420 | and the way to do that

01:11:57.720 | is, you guessed it,

01:11:58.980 | through the vagus nerve.

01:12:00.340 | Studies in healthy humans

01:12:02.120 | and humans

01:12:02.740 | who have had,

01:12:03.200 | for instance, stroke

01:12:04.160 | as well as animal studies

01:12:05.720 | have shown

01:12:06.200 | that if you stimulate

01:12:07.220 | the vagus nerve electrically,

01:12:08.600 | you increase the level

01:12:10.240 | of alertness in the brain

01:12:11.460 | and part of the mechanism

01:12:12.860 | by which you do that

01:12:13.600 | is the one I told you

01:12:14.320 | about a few minutes ago,

01:12:15.220 | the adrenals,

01:12:16.600 | vagus,

01:12:17.140 | locus coeruleus

01:12:18.100 | but also there's

01:12:19.440 | a separate pathway

01:12:20.280 | from the NTS

01:12:21.620 | to nucleus basalis

01:12:22.960 | that stimulates

01:12:23.980 | the release

01:12:24.400 | of acetylcholine

01:12:25.320 | from nucleus basalis

01:12:26.500 | and opens up

01:12:27.320 | the opportunity

01:12:28.000 | for neuroplasticity.

01:12:29.620 | This, I should mention,

01:12:31.460 | is not a small effect.

01:12:33.340 | It is a rapid effect

01:12:35.880 | and it's one

01:12:36.640 | that has allowed

01:12:37.280 | stroke patients,

01:12:37.980 | for instance,

01:12:38.580 | to improve

01:12:39.840 | their motor capabilities

01:12:40.840 | very quickly

01:12:41.440 | as compared

01:12:42.140 | to when the vagus nerve

01:12:43.180 | is not stimulated

01:12:44.480 | or when acetylcholine

01:12:46.000 | transmission

01:12:46.400 | is not enhanced

01:12:47.340 | pharmacologically

01:12:48.120 | and fortunately now

01:12:49.560 | there are studies

01:12:50.600 | starting to accumulate

01:12:51.520 | in animal models

01:12:52.660 | and some in humans.

01:12:54.040 | We need more

01:12:55.480 | but there are some

01:12:56.300 | showing that

01:12:57.200 | if you enhance alertness

01:12:58.760 | by way of activating

01:13:00.360 | the vagus nerve

01:13:01.160 | through the mechanism

01:13:02.480 | that I told you before

01:13:03.420 | which is good old-fashioned

01:13:04.840 | high-intensity exercise

01:13:06.200 | that in the several hours

01:13:08.160 | following that exercise

01:13:09.480 | there is an enhanced

01:13:11.060 | opportunity

01:13:11.680 | for neuroplasticity.

01:13:13.120 | Now that enhanced

01:13:14.240 | opportunity

01:13:14.800 | for neuroplasticity

01:13:16.000 | comes by way

01:13:16.940 | of two different pathways.

01:13:18.220 | You already heard

01:13:18.900 | about the first one

01:13:19.640 | which is the locus

01:13:20.660 | coeruleus

01:13:21.180 | release of norepinephrine.

01:13:22.580 | That's going to increase

01:13:23.740 | alertness

01:13:24.520 | which is a prerequisite

01:13:25.780 | for focus

01:13:26.620 | and it appears

01:13:27.840 | to be the case

01:13:28.380 | that the release

01:13:29.020 | of acetylcholine

01:13:29.980 | from nucleus basalis

01:13:31.060 | that's also triggered

01:13:32.600 | by this high-intensity exercise

01:13:34.340 | is what allows

01:13:35.920 | for that alertness

01:13:37.080 | to be converted

01:13:38.300 | into focus

01:13:39.420 | and those two things together

01:13:40.640 | alertness and focus

01:13:41.780 | are the triggers

01:13:42.880 | for adult neuroplasticity.

01:13:44.760 | If you think about this

01:13:45.880 | this is really exciting.

01:13:47.080 | For 25 years or more

01:13:48.880 | we've known

01:13:49.360 | that plasticity

01:13:50.240 | is possible

01:13:50.880 | in the adult human.

01:13:51.940 | We knew you needed alertness

01:13:53.580 | and you needed focus.

01:13:54.620 | We also by the way

01:13:55.760 | know that you need

01:13:56.840 | to get great sleep

01:13:58.120 | that night

01:13:58.720 | and in subsequent nights

01:14:00.020 | in order to actually

01:14:01.000 | allow the plasticity

01:14:02.100 | to occur.

01:14:02.640 | Plasticity is a process

01:14:04.360 | it's not just triggered

01:14:05.200 | when you go about

01:14:06.160 | trying to learn something

01:14:06.960 | it actually takes place

01:14:07.900 | in sleep

01:14:09.060 | as well as sleep-like states

01:14:10.880 | like non-sleep deep rest

01:14:12.140 | and meditation

01:14:12.800 | but especially

01:14:13.760 | in deep sleep

01:14:14.920 | and rapid eye movement sleep.

01:14:16.160 | This is why

01:14:16.820 | you can attempt

01:14:17.300 | to learn something

01:14:17.980 | cognitively or behaviorally

01:14:19.340 | over and over and over.

01:14:21.000 | You can't get those scales

01:14:22.120 | on the piano right.

01:14:22.860 | You can't get the

01:14:24.060 | you know

01:14:24.740 | the information dialed in

01:14:26.700 | from your class

01:14:27.460 | a language class

01:14:28.380 | or from engineering

01:14:29.520 | or you're trying to figure out

01:14:31.280 | what this picture

01:14:32.080 | should be in your mind

01:14:33.020 | that you're going to paint

01:14:33.760 | etc.

01:14:34.060 | You work at it

01:14:35.760 | you work at it

01:14:36.380 | you sleep

01:14:37.620 | you sleep

01:14:37.940 | and then one day

01:14:38.480 | you wake up

01:14:38.940 | and suddenly

01:14:39.320 | you have the skill

01:14:40.100 | it's because

01:14:40.700 | the actual rewiring

01:14:42.220 | of those circuits

01:14:42.940 | that we call neuroplasticity

01:14:44.160 | occurs during sleep

01:14:45.140 | but it's triggered

01:14:45.880 | in those moments

01:14:47.020 | of incremental learning

01:14:48.520 | and really struggling

01:14:49.460 | and keep in mind

01:14:50.140 | the struggle

01:14:50.760 | to learn something

01:14:51.600 | that friction

01:14:52.240 | is part of the

01:14:53.520 | neuroplasticity process

01:14:54.860 | and it's oh so clear

01:14:56.580 | now

01:14:56.900 | that alertness

01:14:58.980 | and focus

01:14:59.560 | are the prerequisites

01:15:00.720 | for plasticity

01:15:01.540 | that alertness

01:15:02.520 | is coming

01:15:02.980 | in large part

01:15:04.380 | by way of the release

01:15:05.300 | of norepinephrine

01:15:05.920 | from locus coeruleus

01:15:07.240 | that the focus

01:15:08.260 | is being augmented

01:15:09.300 | and perhaps

01:15:10.340 | it's even originating

01:15:11.800 | entirely from the release

01:15:13.100 | of acetylcholine

01:15:13.820 | and nucleus basalis

01:15:14.760 | that acts as sort of

01:15:15.720 | a spotlight

01:15:16.300 | on a particular set

01:15:17.440 | of things that are happening

01:15:18.340 | while we're trying to learn

01:15:19.660 | and then

01:15:20.860 | that triggers

01:15:21.640 | the plasticity process

01:15:22.740 | which takes place

01:15:23.900 | during sleep

01:15:24.800 | so that beautiful picture

01:15:27.120 | of self-directed

01:15:28.320 | adaptive plasticity

01:15:29.360 | in adulthood

01:15:29.840 | is allowed to happen

01:15:32.820 | because

01:15:33.700 | the vagus nerve

01:15:35.340 | in part

01:15:36.080 | is triggering

01:15:37.780 | NTS

01:15:38.860 | to say

01:15:39.640 | hey

01:15:39.980 | locus coeruleus

01:15:41.100 | nucleus basalis

01:15:42.140 | wake up

01:15:42.780 | release norepinephrine

01:15:44.020 | release acetylcholine

01:15:45.500 | now is the time

01:15:46.500 | to learn

01:15:46.920 | so what this means

01:15:48.060 | is

01:15:48.340 | if you're struggling

01:15:49.440 | to learn

01:15:49.940 | if you want

01:15:50.760 | to continue

01:15:51.180 | to have robust

01:15:52.000 | neuroplasticity

01:15:52.880 | if you happen

01:15:53.940 | to have some

01:15:54.540 | damage to motor pathways

01:15:56.020 | or you're having

01:15:56.720 | trouble with focusing

01:15:57.640 | and brain fog

01:15:58.460 | keep in mind

01:15:59.120 | focus itself

01:16:00.160 | is served

01:16:01.460 | by a circuit

01:16:02.220 | that is subject

01:16:03.000 | to plasticity

01:16:03.800 | you can actually

01:16:04.280 | get better

01:16:04.840 | at focusing

01:16:05.520 | by working

01:16:06.660 | on focus

01:16:07.180 | just the same

01:16:07.840 | way you would

01:16:08.280 | on any skill

01:16:09.340 | and so

01:16:10.420 | if you're struggling

01:16:11.220 | with focus

01:16:11.760 | I highly recommend

01:16:12.580 | finding a threshold

01:16:13.740 | of exercise

01:16:14.340 | that stimulates

01:16:15.640 | brain alertness

01:16:16.580 | that triggers

01:16:17.820 | these pathways

01:16:18.460 | that are now

01:16:19.080 | starting to be clear

01:16:20.240 | that they occur

01:16:21.540 | from the literature

01:16:22.340 | in animals

01:16:22.920 | and humans

01:16:23.560 | and yes

01:16:24.860 | you might augment

01:16:25.780 | this with

01:16:26.300 | something like

01:16:26.960 | caffeine

01:16:27.340 | which will

01:16:27.860 | further increase

01:16:28.940 | levels of norepinephrine

01:16:29.960 | you might even

01:16:30.800 | use low dose nicotine

01:16:31.960 | I'm not necessarily

01:16:32.720 | recommending that

01:16:33.460 | certainly not

01:16:33.920 | for young people

01:16:34.680 | and you do need

01:16:35.640 | to be aware

01:16:36.200 | of the habit forming

01:16:37.560 | aka addictive

01:16:38.320 | properties of nicotine

01:16:39.380 | you definitely

01:16:40.080 | don't want to

01:16:40.480 | consume it

01:16:40.880 | in any form

01:16:41.560 | that's going

01:16:42.120 | to cause you

01:16:42.700 | to increase

01:16:43.620 | your risk of cancer

01:16:44.500 | or popcorn lung

01:16:45.460 | from vaping

01:16:46.120 | you could use

01:16:47.300 | pharmacology

01:16:47.860 | you could use

01:16:48.500 | alpha gpc

01:16:49.260 | you could use

01:16:49.840 | herpruzine

01:16:50.400 | in combination

01:16:51.420 | with exercise

01:16:52.380 | however

01:16:53.020 | I strongly

01:16:54.400 | strongly recommend

01:16:55.420 | that anyone

01:16:55.980 | who's interested

01:16:56.600 | in lifelong learning

01:16:57.920 | think about

01:16:58.820 | organizing your

01:16:59.580 | bouts of learning

01:17:00.300 | especially cognitive

01:17:01.080 | learning

01:17:01.440 | to come

01:17:02.260 | in the two

01:17:03.300 | to three hours

01:17:04.080 | maybe even four hours

01:17:05.140 | but certainly

01:17:05.560 | in the one

01:17:06.040 | to two hours

01:17:06.660 | after you do

01:17:07.680 | some sort of exercise

01:17:08.520 | that doesn't leave

01:17:09.260 | you exhausted

01:17:10.120 | but leaves you

01:17:11.080 | with elevated levels

01:17:12.160 | of energy

01:17:13.480 | in your body

01:17:14.120 | so you don't

01:17:15.000 | want to take

01:17:15.700 | this physical exercise

01:17:16.700 | that I'm talking

01:17:17.160 | about to exhaustion

01:17:18.440 | because that's

01:17:19.420 | going to leave

01:17:19.720 | you depleted

01:17:20.280 | that's going to

01:17:20.820 | cause a

01:17:21.280 | you know

01:17:21.940 | uptick in

01:17:22.740 | parasympathetic activity

01:17:24.000 | any of you

01:17:24.680 | that have done

01:17:24.980 | a hard leg

01:17:25.880 | workout

01:17:26.260 | and then you know

01:17:27.140 | two three hours

01:17:27.720 | later

01:17:28.020 | you're just like

01:17:28.660 | it's very clear

01:17:29.640 | brain oxygen levels

01:17:30.680 | are down

01:17:31.340 | parasympathetic activity

01:17:32.660 | is up

01:17:33.280 | you are tired

01:17:33.820 | because you exhausted

01:17:34.760 | all that energy

01:17:35.480 | and exercise

01:17:36.080 | but if you can use

01:17:37.180 | exercise as a trigger

01:17:38.600 | to release adrenaline

01:17:40.020 | and stimulate

01:17:40.740 | these pathways

01:17:41.320 | within the brain

01:17:42.100 | that arrive

01:17:42.900 | via the signaling

01:17:43.780 | from the vagus

01:17:44.540 | you do indeed

01:17:45.640 | open up the opportunity

01:17:46.800 | for enhanced

01:17:48.020 | neuroplasticity

01:17:49.180 | at any age

01:17:50.100 | and that is

01:17:51.100 | a non-trivial

01:17:51.920 | thing

01:17:52.300 | in fact

01:17:53.180 | it's downright

01:17:53.780 | exciting

01:17:54.200 | because the search

01:17:55.140 | for adult

01:17:55.820 | neuroplasticity

01:17:56.700 | tools

01:17:57.060 | is one

01:17:57.680 | that's existed

01:17:58.240 | probably for

01:17:58.960 | thousands of years

01:17:59.720 | and that has

01:18:00.140 | been documented

01:18:00.700 | for hundreds

01:18:01.200 | of years

01:18:01.620 | and the thing

01:18:02.500 | that makes

01:18:03.040 | the nervous

01:18:03.420 | system of humans

01:18:04.180 | so special

01:18:05.040 | is that it

01:18:05.720 | is capable

01:18:06.540 | of changing

01:18:07.240 | itself

01:18:07.700 | throughout the

01:18:08.400 | lifespan

01:18:08.760 | so now you

01:18:09.760 | know at least

01:18:10.260 | one method

01:18:10.760 | by which you

01:18:11.180 | can do that

01:18:11.680 | and it of course

01:18:12.580 | involves

01:18:13.080 | the vagus

01:18:13.820 | okay

01:18:14.740 | so one of

01:18:15.360 | the most

01:18:16.160 | incredible things

01:18:16.800 | about the vagus

01:18:17.400 | nerve

01:18:17.660 | that i myself

01:18:18.820 | have really

01:18:19.440 | not ever heard

01:18:20.080 | talked about

01:18:20.560 | out there

01:18:20.940 | is the way

01:18:22.080 | it communicates

01:18:23.040 | and coordinates

01:18:23.860 | levels of serotonin

01:18:25.140 | in the gut

01:18:25.880 | with levels

01:18:26.960 | of serotonin

01:18:27.680 | in the brain

01:18:28.420 | now a discussion

01:18:30.180 | about serotonin

01:18:31.100 | that's complete

01:18:32.280 | would take many

01:18:32.840 | many hours

01:18:33.440 | but suffice to say

01:18:34.540 | that serotonin

01:18:35.580 | is a neuromodulator

01:18:36.920 | much like dopamine

01:18:37.900 | or acetylcholine

01:18:38.780 | or norepinephrine

01:18:39.540 | in that it modulates

01:18:40.680 | the activity

01:18:41.240 | of other circuits

01:18:42.060 | it's critically

01:18:43.220 | important for mood

01:18:44.220 | in the gut

01:18:45.460 | it's critically

01:18:46.100 | important

01:18:46.640 | for gut motility

01:18:48.060 | for ease of digestion

01:18:49.760 | and for gut health

01:18:51.000 | in the brain

01:18:52.120 | we say serotonin

01:18:53.420 | is important for mood

01:18:54.440 | i don't want to give

01:18:55.420 | the impression

01:18:55.880 | that high levels

01:18:56.600 | of serotonin

01:18:57.260 | good

01:18:57.580 | low levels

01:18:58.140 | of serotonin

01:18:58.780 | bad

01:18:59.200 | serotonin

01:19:01.040 | needs to be

01:19:01.540 | at a particular level

01:19:02.700 | so neither too high

01:19:03.720 | nor too low

01:19:04.500 | as many of you know

01:19:05.580 | one of the major ways

01:19:06.420 | that depression

01:19:06.960 | has been treated

01:19:07.580 | over the last decades

01:19:08.520 | is through

01:19:09.160 | the administration

01:19:10.120 | of something called

01:19:10.860 | ssri

01:19:11.560 | selective serotonin

01:19:12.880 | reuptake inhibitors

01:19:13.880 | which have the net

01:19:14.700 | effect of increasing

01:19:15.720 | levels of serotonin

01:19:16.760 | at synapses

01:19:17.540 | ssris are somewhat

01:19:19.140 | controversial

01:19:19.660 | because in many people

01:19:20.960 | they do alleviate

01:19:21.800 | certain symptoms

01:19:22.860 | of depression

01:19:23.420 | but they often

01:19:24.140 | carry side effects

01:19:25.280 | because serotonin

01:19:26.380 | is used in multiple

01:19:27.540 | circuits throughout

01:19:28.200 | the brain

01:19:28.680 | i don't want

01:19:29.520 | to give the impression

01:19:30.200 | that ssris are

01:19:31.440 | always bad

01:19:32.240 | or always good

01:19:33.060 | it's highly dependent

01:19:34.100 | on the patient

01:19:34.820 | and a bunch

01:19:35.860 | of other things

01:19:36.440 | that really

01:19:37.160 | unfortunately

01:19:37.720 | can only be explored

01:19:38.960 | through experimentation

01:19:40.180 | that's typically

01:19:40.860 | what psychiatrists

01:19:41.580 | will do

01:19:41.880 | they'll prescribe

01:19:43.100 | an ssri

01:19:43.800 | at a given dose

01:19:44.500 | see how a patient

01:19:45.140 | reacts

01:19:45.600 | maybe they'll

01:19:46.060 | take them off

01:19:46.600 | an ssri entirely

01:19:47.640 | give them

01:19:48.040 | a different type

01:19:48.880 | of antidepressant

01:19:49.620 | that works

01:19:49.900 | on a different

01:19:50.360 | set of neuromodulators

01:19:51.320 | like dopamine

01:19:51.940 | and norepinephrine

01:19:52.740 | so wellbutrin

01:19:53.740 | would be a non-ssri

01:19:55.220 | antidepressant

01:19:55.900 | and there are a whole

01:19:56.540 | set of issues

01:19:57.040 | around ssris

01:19:57.780 | for instance

01:19:58.620 | they can be

01:19:59.880 | very beneficial

01:20:00.560 | for people

01:20:01.040 | with full clinical

01:20:02.320 | ocd

01:20:02.940 | obsessive compulsive

01:20:03.760 | disorder

01:20:04.180 | and then again

01:20:05.100 | other people

01:20:05.780 | suffer terrible

01:20:07.320 | side effects

01:20:07.820 | from ssris

01:20:08.460 | so

01:20:08.960 | i don't want

01:20:09.960 | to suggest

01:20:10.380 | that ssris

01:20:11.240 | are a solution

01:20:12.300 | i also don't

01:20:13.420 | want to suggest

01:20:14.060 | that serotonin

01:20:15.160 | is the only

01:20:16.200 | problem with

01:20:16.780 | depression

01:20:17.200 | or is always

01:20:18.640 | a problem

01:20:19.140 | in cases of

01:20:19.780 | depression

01:20:20.120 | that itself

01:20:20.700 | is heavily

01:20:21.120 | debated

01:20:21.540 | what's emerging

01:20:22.580 | from the data

01:20:23.140 | is that elevating

01:20:24.180 | levels of serotonin

01:20:25.240 | in the brain

01:20:26.220 | can increase

01:20:27.500 | neuroplasticity

01:20:28.460 | which can allow

01:20:29.240 | people who have

01:20:29.820 | major depression

01:20:30.620 | to learn new

01:20:31.680 | contingencies

01:20:32.380 | you know

01:20:32.680 | these are people

01:20:33.080 | who at one

01:20:34.480 | point are thinking

01:20:35.300 | you know

01:20:35.560 | why would i ever

01:20:36.080 | try and get

01:20:36.480 | a new relationship

01:20:37.120 | or job

01:20:37.780 | like everything

01:20:38.620 | always turns out

01:20:39.300 | terribly

01:20:39.640 | these are hallmarks

01:20:40.640 | of depression

01:20:41.200 | you know

01:20:41.640 | lack of excitement

01:20:43.140 | about the future

01:20:44.040 | everything's a negative

01:20:45.360 | outcome in their mind

01:20:46.320 | through neuroplasticity

01:20:48.100 | it's clear that people

01:20:49.340 | can form new

01:20:50.040 | contingencies

01:20:50.620 | they can start

01:20:51.160 | to imagine life

01:20:52.020 | as more positive

01:20:53.100 | and holding

01:20:53.980 | more possibility

01:20:54.800 | and changing levels

01:20:56.040 | of serotonin

01:20:56.740 | is known to be

01:20:57.580 | much in the same

01:20:58.200 | way acetylcholine

01:20:59.280 | can increase

01:20:59.860 | plasticity

01:21:00.480 | permissive

01:21:01.580 | for neuroplasticity

01:21:02.760 | so that might be

01:21:03.340 | one way

01:21:03.840 | by which ssris

01:21:05.040 | actually can

01:21:06.300 | provide help

01:21:06.960 | for certain

01:21:07.700 | people

01:21:08.060 | for depression

01:21:09.420 | however

01:21:10.020 | because of the

01:21:10.640 | side effects

01:21:11.040 | associated with

01:21:11.640 | ssris

01:21:12.100 | many people

01:21:12.600 | are leaning

01:21:12.920 | away from them

01:21:13.700 | and yet

01:21:14.540 | having adequate

01:21:15.740 | levels of serotonin

01:21:16.740 | is absolutely

01:21:17.600 | critical for people

01:21:18.540 | depressed

01:21:19.440 | as well as people

01:21:20.140 | who are not depressed

01:21:21.020 | to feel a sense

01:21:22.040 | of well-being

01:21:22.640 | just overall

01:21:23.740 | sense of well-being

01:21:24.460 | being okay

01:21:25.360 | with who they are

01:21:26.980 | and where life is at

01:21:27.900 | being able to lean

01:21:28.580 | into effort

01:21:29.160 | and all these things

01:21:29.780 | it's absolutely

01:21:30.500 | critical that we

01:21:31.200 | have adequate levels

01:21:32.100 | of serotonin

01:21:32.800 | in the brain

01:21:33.720 | now you may have

01:21:34.680 | heard and it is

01:21:35.360 | absolutely true

01:21:36.340 | that 90%

01:21:37.800 | of the serotonin

01:21:38.600 | manufactured in your

01:21:39.660 | body is in the gut

01:21:41.260 | now what you don't

01:21:42.980 | often hear

01:21:43.660 | is that serotonin

01:21:45.140 | stays in the gut

01:21:46.560 | right we hear these

01:21:47.540 | days oh you know

01:21:48.340 | most of your serotonin

01:21:49.800 | is manufactured in your gut

01:21:51.260 | which has given

01:21:52.080 | millions of people

01:21:53.060 | the false impression

01:21:54.080 | that if you get your gut

01:21:55.640 | serotonin right

01:21:56.580 | somehow it's traveling

01:21:58.780 | up to your brain

01:21:59.580 | and performing

01:22:00.800 | all the important roles

01:22:01.640 | that serotonin plays

01:22:02.480 | in your brain

01:22:03.040 | that's not how it

01:22:04.120 | works at all

01:22:04.740 | fortunately however

01:22:06.420 | there are ways

01:22:07.600 | that you can modify

01:22:08.760 | the levels of serotonin

01:22:09.880 | in your gut

01:22:10.440 | and indeed

01:22:11.460 | the levels of serotonin

01:22:12.780 | in your gut

01:22:13.380 | powerfully impact

01:22:14.840 | the levels of serotonin

01:22:15.860 | in your brain

01:22:16.540 | and this occurs

01:22:17.760 | you guessed it

01:22:18.820 | by way of the vagus

01:22:20.080 | it's a super cool

01:22:21.080 | mechanism

01:22:21.500 | and it's one

01:22:22.080 | that you can exert

01:22:22.880 | some positive control

01:22:23.980 | over

01:22:24.280 | in order to

01:22:25.520 | for instance

01:22:26.160 | increase your

01:22:27.280 | baseline levels

01:22:28.200 | of mood

01:22:28.660 | in order

01:22:29.740 | to increase

01:22:30.420 | levels of serotonin

01:22:31.440 | if that's something

01:22:32.040 | that you seek

01:22:32.640 | here's the pathway

01:22:33.900 | and the mechanism

01:22:34.460 | and I'm going to

01:22:35.120 | provide this

01:22:35.640 | in kind of

01:22:36.580 | top contour form

01:22:37.640 | in the future

01:22:38.120 | I'll do an entire

01:22:38.760 | episode about serotonin

01:22:39.980 | but here's the idea

01:22:41.180 | in your gut

01:22:43.620 | you have cells

01:22:44.540 | including neurons

01:22:45.600 | but you also have

01:22:46.700 | a lot of other cells

01:22:47.540 | mostly other cells

01:22:48.680 | frankly

01:22:49.060 | and there's a

01:22:50.300 | particular category

01:22:51.080 | of cells

01:22:51.680 | called the

01:22:52.380 | enterochromafin cells

01:22:53.800 | you don't need

01:22:54.660 | to know that name

01:22:55.220 | but if you want

01:22:55.740 | they're the

01:22:56.040 | enterochromafin cells

01:22:57.040 | and they manufacture

01:22:58.480 | serotonin

01:22:59.540 | they do that

01:23:00.520 | through a beautiful

01:23:01.260 | pathway involving

01:23:02.240 | an enzymatic reaction

01:23:03.700 | that converts

01:23:04.280 | tryptophan from the

01:23:05.440 | food you eat

01:23:05.960 | tryptophan's an

01:23:06.560 | amino acid

01:23:07.180 | gets converted

01:23:08.180 | eventually into

01:23:09.080 | serotonin

01:23:09.600 | there are a bunch

01:23:10.120 | of steps in there

01:23:10.680 | in the biochemistry

01:23:11.360 | gets converted

01:23:12.220 | into serotonin

01:23:13.000 | that serotonin

01:23:14.320 | binds to

01:23:15.700 | the ends of neurons

01:23:17.220 | the axons of neurons

01:23:18.480 | in the vagus nerve

01:23:19.320 | that innervate

01:23:20.120 | your gut

01:23:20.820 | not just your stomach

01:23:21.900 | but your

01:23:22.560 | large intestine

01:23:23.820 | and your small intestine

01:23:25.040 | remember

01:23:25.780 | those sensory

01:23:26.760 | afferents

01:23:27.220 | those sensory

01:23:27.860 | axons

01:23:28.520 | that extend

01:23:29.880 | into the body

01:23:30.640 | have receptors

01:23:31.820 | on them

01:23:32.320 | right

01:23:32.920 | the serotonin

01:23:34.720 | in the gut

01:23:35.280 | assuming you're

01:23:36.360 | getting enough

01:23:36.800 | tryptophan

01:23:37.440 | and assuming

01:23:38.700 | the milieu

01:23:39.240 | of your gut

01:23:39.900 | is correct

01:23:40.260 | we'll talk

01:23:40.580 | about what that

01:23:40.980 | means and how

01:23:41.380 | you can exert

01:23:41.840 | control over it

01:23:42.560 | get the milieu

01:23:43.040 | right

01:23:43.560 | that serotonin

01:23:44.960 | binds

01:23:45.520 | to the ends

01:23:46.760 | of those axons

01:23:47.480 | in the gut

01:23:48.000 | and stimulates

01:23:49.420 | a particular

01:23:50.400 | category of them

01:23:51.340 | that then

01:23:52.740 | relays the signal

01:23:53.940 | up and through

01:23:55.160 | nodos ganglion

01:23:56.200 | you know

01:23:56.700 | are familiar

01:23:57.100 | with these names

01:23:57.760 | up into the brain

01:23:59.360 | to the nucleus

01:24:01.420 | tractus solitaris

01:24:02.720 | okay

01:24:03.340 | that NTS

01:24:04.060 | again

01:24:04.480 | and then the nucleus

01:24:06.080 | tractus solitaris

01:24:07.240 | doesn't just communicate

01:24:08.760 | with locus coeruleus

01:24:09.760 | and with nucleus

01:24:10.240 | basalis

01:24:10.660 | it also sends

01:24:11.720 | a powerful signal

01:24:12.660 | to what's called

01:24:13.400 | the dorsal raphe nucleus

01:24:14.980 | the dorsal raphe nucleus

01:24:16.460 | in your brain

01:24:17.280 | is responsible

01:24:18.600 | for the release

01:24:19.640 | of the majority

01:24:20.380 | of the serotonin

01:24:21.580 | in your brain

01:24:22.160 | so when you hear

01:24:23.240 | that most

01:24:23.660 | of the serotonin

01:24:24.360 | in your body

01:24:25.060 | is made

01:24:25.880 | in your gut

01:24:26.540 | that's true

01:24:28.000 | and it stays

01:24:29.060 | in your gut

01:24:29.660 | but the levels

01:24:30.600 | of serotonin

01:24:31.320 | are communicated

01:24:32.220 | to the brain

01:24:32.920 | by the vagus

01:24:34.100 | and then stimulates

01:24:36.400 | the release

01:24:36.840 | of serotonin

01:24:37.540 | from the dorsal raphe nucleus

01:24:39.140 | so the question

01:24:40.560 | therefore becomes

01:24:41.520 | if we want

01:24:42.860 | to increase levels

01:24:43.680 | of serotonin

01:24:44.320 | in the brain

01:24:44.880 | or simply

01:24:45.780 | to maintain

01:24:46.320 | healthy levels

01:24:47.220 | of serotonin

01:24:47.940 | in the brain

01:24:48.420 | for somebody

01:24:48.840 | who's not depressed

01:24:49.540 | or maybe somebody

01:24:50.100 | who's having low mood

01:24:50.960 | just to keep

01:24:51.720 | elevated levels

01:24:52.460 | of mood

01:24:52.880 | and proper levels

01:24:53.980 | of serotonin

01:24:54.640 | overall

01:24:55.080 | because it's involved

01:24:55.840 | in lots of things

01:24:56.600 | not just mood

01:24:57.300 | we need to make sure

01:24:59.520 | that we're getting

01:25:00.000 | adequate production

01:25:01.080 | of serotonin

01:25:01.900 | in the gut

01:25:02.520 | and again

01:25:03.480 | adequate production

01:25:04.520 | of serotonin

01:25:05.120 | in the gut

01:25:05.620 | has a bunch

01:25:06.280 | of other positive

01:25:06.900 | effects

01:25:07.240 | on the immune

01:25:07.780 | system

01:25:08.180 | on gut motility

01:25:09.100 | in fact

01:25:09.580 | having adequate

01:25:10.580 | levels of serotonin

01:25:11.520 | in the gut

01:25:11.980 | is powerfully

01:25:12.620 | associated

01:25:13.040 | with having

01:25:13.520 | a healthy gut

01:25:14.260 | and not having

01:25:14.820 | irritable gut

01:25:15.720 | irritable bowel syndrome

01:25:17.260 | is something

01:25:17.760 | that vexes

01:25:18.560 | many people

01:25:19.480 | you know

01:25:20.140 | it might sound

01:25:20.600 | kind of funny

01:25:21.100 | to those of you

01:25:21.560 | that don't have

01:25:21.920 | oh you have

01:25:22.280 | an irritable bowel

01:25:23.000 | people with

01:25:23.980 | IBS

01:25:24.620 | irritable bowel syndrome

01:25:25.700 | oftentimes

01:25:26.260 | suffer tremendously

01:25:28.040 | they can't go

01:25:28.840 | out to dinner

01:25:29.320 | they can't eat

01:25:29.920 | foods that other

01:25:30.500 | people offer them

01:25:31.960 | they'll eat

01:25:32.420 | a bunch of foods

01:25:33.040 | for a while

01:25:33.460 | and feel fine

01:25:34.220 | then they feel

01:25:34.760 | terrible

01:25:35.200 | it's not just

01:25:36.000 | about having

01:25:36.400 | diarrhea

01:25:36.900 | often they have

01:25:37.960 | a bunch

01:25:38.260 | of other

01:25:38.560 | gut issues

01:25:39.080 | and it's

01:25:39.400 | correlated with

01:25:39.820 | a bunch

01:25:40.120 | of other

01:25:40.520 | major problems

01:25:41.580 | over time

01:25:42.960 | we're going to do

01:25:44.200 | an entire episode

01:25:44.880 | about gut health

01:25:45.640 | as it relates

01:25:46.180 | to IBS

01:25:46.760 | there are things

01:25:47.880 | that you can do

01:25:48.460 | to improve IBS

01:25:49.160 | one of them

01:25:49.800 | is to keep

01:25:50.400 | your

01:25:50.620 | or get your

01:25:52.560 | gut levels

01:25:53.420 | of serotonin

01:25:54.100 | right

01:25:54.380 | how do you do

01:25:55.300 | that

01:25:55.620 | well one way

01:25:56.580 | to do that

01:25:57.140 | is to make sure

01:25:57.960 | that the microbiota

01:25:59.040 | of your gut

01:25:59.600 | are healthy

01:26:00.300 | and that they

01:26:01.400 | are diverse

01:26:02.060 | the best way

01:26:02.760 | to do that

01:26:03.460 | not using

01:26:04.780 | any kind

01:26:05.160 | of supplementation

01:26:05.960 | is to make

01:26:06.600 | sure that

01:26:06.940 | you're ingesting

01:26:07.560 | one to four

01:26:08.860 | servings of low

01:26:09.600 | sugar fermented

01:26:10.260 | foods per day

01:26:10.980 | I've talked about

01:26:11.460 | this before

01:26:11.880 | on the podcast

01:26:12.380 | this is based

01:26:13.100 | on beautiful data

01:26:14.120 | from my colleague

01:26:14.640 | Justin Sonnenberg

01:26:15.520 | and Christopher Gardner

01:26:17.220 | at Stanford

01:26:17.940 | showed that

01:26:19.060 | the ingestion

01:26:19.520 | of one to four

01:26:20.180 | servings of low

01:26:21.160 | sugar fermented

01:26:21.700 | foods per day

01:26:22.460 | so these would

01:26:23.180 | be things like

01:26:23.980 | kimchi

01:26:24.820 | sauerkraut

01:26:25.900 | again low sugar

01:26:26.760 | look at the labels

01:26:27.520 | this is the stuff

01:26:28.380 | that would need

01:26:29.100 | to be refrigerated

01:26:29.940 | we're not talking

01:26:30.480 | about pickles

01:26:30.960 | kept on the

01:26:31.500 | non-refrigerated

01:26:32.240 | shelf

01:26:33.160 | the non-refrigerated

01:26:34.120 | section of the

01:26:34.960 | grocery store

01:26:35.400 | but rather

01:26:35.820 | the brine

01:26:36.640 | and the pickles

01:26:37.200 | that don't have

01:26:38.160 | a ton of sugar

01:26:38.780 | so the sour pickles

01:26:40.160 | that is

01:26:40.620 | that are kept

01:26:41.420 | in the refrigerator

01:26:42.040 | things like kimchi

01:26:43.120 | things like kombucha

01:26:45.480 | keep in mind

01:26:46.500 | some kombucha

01:26:47.540 | has alcohol

01:26:48.100 | so keep that in mind

01:26:48.900 | if you're giving

01:26:49.260 | this to kids

01:26:49.840 | who shouldn't

01:26:50.900 | be ingesting alcohol

01:26:51.800 | any adults

01:26:52.840 | probably shouldn't

01:26:53.360 | be ingesting alcohol

01:26:54.240 | kombucha has

01:26:55.200 | very little alcohol

01:26:55.940 | but if you're

01:26:56.340 | an alcoholic

01:26:56.800 | and you're

01:26:57.080 | completely avoiding

01:26:57.680 | alcohol

01:26:58.060 | you should know

01:26:58.660 | that

01:26:58.980 | kombucha

01:26:59.580 | contains some

01:27:00.160 | alcohol

01:27:00.580 | things like

01:27:02.320 | kefir

01:27:02.800 | quality yogurts

01:27:05.020 | low sugar yogurts

01:27:05.900 | you can look up

01:27:06.820 | online

01:27:07.240 | what are different

01:27:07.980 | low sugar fermented

01:27:08.760 | foods

01:27:09.060 | these things

01:27:09.560 | are going to

01:27:10.340 | improve the gut

01:27:11.300 | microbiota

01:27:11.960 | that in turn

01:27:12.780 | promote the

01:27:14.040 | production of

01:27:14.900 | serotonin

01:27:15.620 | if and only

01:27:17.020 | if

01:27:17.240 | this is important

01:27:17.880 | if and only

01:27:18.700 | if

01:27:18.920 | there's also

01:27:19.580 | sufficient levels

01:27:20.340 | of tryptophan

01:27:21.180 | in your dietary

01:27:22.020 | intake

01:27:22.520 | so you're going

01:27:23.280 | to want to

01:27:23.580 | take a look

01:27:23.900 | at what you're

01:27:24.200 | eating

01:27:24.480 | and just

01:27:25.400 | through a simple

01:27:25.960 | online search

01:27:26.600 | you can figure

01:27:27.020 | out whether

01:27:28.020 | or not

01:27:28.240 | you're getting

01:27:28.520 | sufficient levels

01:27:29.220 | of tryptophan

01:27:29.940 | many people

01:27:31.140 | are familiar

01:27:31.540 | with the idea

01:27:32.260 | because it's true

01:27:33.320 | that turkey contains

01:27:34.780 | high levels

01:27:35.140 | of tryptophan

01:27:35.840 | this is thought

01:27:37.400 | to be responsible

01:27:38.000 | for the post

01:27:38.720 | thanksgiving dinner

01:27:39.440 | effect

01:27:39.840 | although that's

01:27:40.380 | probably due

01:27:40.800 | to just eating

01:27:41.500 | a lot of food

01:27:42.420 | and when the gut

01:27:43.200 | is distended

01:27:43.800 | the distension of the gut

01:27:45.680 | is communicated

01:27:46.380 | by mechanosensors

01:27:47.720 | up the vagus nerve

01:27:49.140 | sensory neurons

01:27:49.920 | and set in motion

01:27:51.940 | the so-called

01:27:52.660 | rest and digest

01:27:53.520 | or I guess

01:27:54.740 | it would be like

01:27:55.320 | collapse and pass out

01:27:56.680 | in the case

01:27:57.420 | of thanksgiving

01:27:58.200 | collapse and pass out

01:27:59.300 | effect of having

01:28:01.600 | a lot of food

01:28:02.380 | in your gut

01:28:02.780 | doesn't matter

01:28:03.160 | what the food

01:28:03.620 | is but you're

01:28:04.120 | going to want

01:28:04.540 | to make sure

01:28:04.860 | that you're

01:28:05.080 | ingesting foods

01:28:05.700 | with sufficient

01:28:06.480 | levels of tryptophan

01:28:07.560 | so dairy products

01:28:08.780 | will do that

01:28:09.380 | white turkey meat

01:28:10.500 | will do that

01:28:10.900 | there are other

01:28:11.360 | foods that have

01:28:11.900 | tryptophan in them

01:28:12.660 | I'm not going

01:28:13.400 | to bother to list

01:28:14.020 | those off now

01:28:14.480 | you can simply

01:28:14.900 | look those up

01:28:15.420 | so make sure

01:28:15.800 | you're getting

01:28:16.080 | enough tryptophan

01:28:16.760 | in your diet

01:28:17.360 | make sure

01:28:18.140 | that you're

01:28:18.380 | getting enough

01:28:18.780 | low sugar

01:28:19.420 | fermented foods

01:28:20.240 | or if you're

01:28:21.060 | not doing that

01:28:21.660 | and perhaps

01:28:22.000 | even if you

01:28:22.500 | are you

01:28:23.080 | might think

01:28:23.460 | about supplementing

01:28:24.660 | your diet

01:28:25.000 | with probiotic

01:28:25.860 | on occasion

01:28:26.700 | right I'm not

01:28:27.500 | talking about

01:28:28.020 | constantly taking

01:28:28.780 | high doses

01:28:29.580 | of probiotics

01:28:30.400 | I actually

01:28:30.720 | don't recommend

01:28:31.300 | that but

01:28:32.380 | for many people

01:28:33.240 | who are suffering

01:28:33.820 | low mood

01:28:34.400 | supplementing

01:28:35.340 | with a quality

01:28:35.840 | probiotic

01:28:36.480 | can actually

01:28:36.940 | improve mood

01:28:37.780 | and the purported

01:28:38.800 | mechanism by which

01:28:39.600 | that happens

01:28:40.200 | is the increase

01:28:41.140 | in serotonin

01:28:41.860 | that is allowed

01:28:43.180 | by improving

01:28:44.220 | the gut microbiota

01:28:45.200 | and including

01:28:45.860 | foods with enough

01:28:46.520 | tryptophan

01:28:47.020 | which is the

01:28:47.460 | precursor to

01:28:48.120 | serotonin

01:28:48.780 | so what I've

01:28:49.680 | done here

01:28:50.020 | is I've

01:28:50.300 | created

01:28:50.660 | the real

01:28:51.740 | conceptual link

01:28:52.620 | the anatomical

01:28:54.480 | link

01:28:54.720 | and the chemical

01:28:55.340 | link between

01:28:55.920 | the production

01:28:56.400 | of serotonin

01:28:57.060 | in the gut

01:28:57.560 | and serotonin

01:28:58.320 | in the brain

01:28:58.920 | and I wouldn't

01:28:59.780 | be talking about

01:29:00.360 | this if there

01:29:00.920 | wasn't actually

01:29:01.800 | data on this

01:29:02.620 | I'll include

01:29:03.220 | links to a few

01:29:03.800 | papers about

01:29:04.440 | the and here

01:29:05.800 | I'm quoting

01:29:06.120 | the title

01:29:06.520 | of a great

01:29:06.920 | paper the

01:29:07.340 | interaction

01:29:07.840 | of the vagus

01:29:08.400 | nerve and

01:29:08.760 | serotonin

01:29:09.300 | in the gut

01:29:09.740 | brain axis

01:29:10.500 | there's also

01:29:11.600 | been at least

01:29:12.780 | one clinical

01:29:13.440 | trial study

01:29:14.220 | exploring how

01:29:15.440 | taking probiotics

01:29:16.520 | and in this

01:29:16.880 | case it was

01:29:17.280 | actually

01:29:17.520 | probiotics

01:29:18.440 | plus

01:29:18.860 | magnesium

01:29:19.680 | it was

01:29:20.520 | magnesium

01:29:21.000 | orotate

01:29:21.700 | which is

01:29:22.700 | just one

01:29:23.060 | form of

01:29:23.360 | magnesium

01:29:23.720 | as well

01:29:24.460 | as I would

01:29:25.840 | say a

01:29:26.200 | low-ish dose

01:29:27.540 | of coenzyme

01:29:28.280 | Q10

01:29:28.740 | combining those

01:29:29.940 | three things

01:29:30.480 | in this paper

01:29:31.620 | entitled

01:29:32.020 | probiotics

01:29:32.660 | and magnesium

01:29:33.220 | orotate

01:29:34.020 | it should have

01:29:34.940 | said probiotics

01:29:35.780 | and magnesium

01:29:36.680 | orotate

01:29:37.220 | and coenzyme

01:29:38.020 | Q10

01:29:38.340 | but the title

01:29:38.880 | is probiotics

01:29:39.940 | and magnesium

01:29:40.500 | orotate

01:29:41.080 | for the treatment

01:29:41.600 | of major

01:29:42.440 | depressive

01:29:42.880 | disorder

01:29:43.320 | a randomized

01:29:43.820 | double-blind

01:29:44.460 | control trial

01:29:45.260 | I want to

01:29:46.080 | emphasize that

01:29:46.820 | the results

01:29:47.840 | of this

01:29:48.500 | paper show

01:29:49.320 | that in the

01:29:50.540 | short term

01:29:51.180 | there's an

01:29:52.160 | improvement

01:29:52.740 | in symptoms

01:29:54.100 | of major

01:29:54.920 | depression

01:29:55.360 | that is

01:29:56.180 | symptoms of

01:29:56.880 | major depression

01:29:57.540 | were reduced

01:29:58.300 | through the

01:29:59.120 | administration

01:29:59.560 | of this

01:30:00.420 | combination

01:30:01.100 | of probiotics

01:30:03.660 | magnesium

01:30:04.600 | orotate

01:30:05.180 | and coenzyme

01:30:06.340 | Q10

01:30:06.780 | however it was

01:30:08.520 | a short-lived

01:30:09.220 | effect

01:30:09.660 | now it was

01:30:10.280 | also a short-lived

01:30:11.160 | treatment

01:30:11.700 | but it was a

01:30:12.980 | short-lived effect

01:30:13.740 | effect

01:30:13.780 | that showed

01:30:14.280 | up

01:30:15.240 | in the

01:30:15.820 | essentially

01:30:16.740 | starting

01:30:17.340 | about the

01:30:17.900 | four-week

01:30:18.580 | mark

01:30:19.380 | and then carried

01:30:19.920 | out to 10

01:30:20.580 | and 15

01:30:21.100 | weeks

01:30:22.020 | the effect

01:30:22.480 | disappeared

01:30:23.460 | now this is

01:30:23.820 | important

01:30:24.300 | because

01:30:24.980 | what it suggests

01:30:25.700 | is that

01:30:26.500 | in the short-term

01:30:27.300 | if you're seeking

01:30:27.860 | to improve your mood

01:30:29.460 | or if you're suffering

01:30:30.540 | from major depression

01:30:31.460 | please seek help

01:30:32.180 | for major depression

01:30:32.980 | this of course

01:30:33.700 | wouldn't be the only

01:30:34.360 | approach

01:30:34.720 | you don't want to

01:30:35.820 | you know

01:30:36.540 | start being your own

01:30:37.300 | psychiatrist

01:30:38.260 | you know this

01:30:38.620 | treatment very well

01:30:39.500 | could be combined

01:30:40.180 | with things

01:30:40.780 | and should be

01:30:41.220 | combined

01:30:41.580 | probably with things

01:30:42.260 | like exercise

01:30:43.060 | maybe with

01:30:43.540 | pharmacologic

01:30:44.100 | treatment

01:30:44.420 | with antidepressant

01:30:45.540 | drugs

01:30:45.760 | it really depends

01:30:46.360 | on the situation

01:30:47.060 | but if you're

01:30:48.220 | somebody who's

01:30:48.860 | suffering from

01:30:49.360 | major depression

01:30:49.980 | or just mild

01:30:50.640 | depression

01:30:51.000 | or if you're

01:30:51.520 | just seeking

01:30:51.980 | to maintain

01:30:52.880 | healthy serotonin

01:30:53.760 | levels

01:30:54.080 | or improve

01:30:55.080 | your mood

01:30:55.440 | slightly

01:30:55.840 | the consumption

01:30:57.620 | of things

01:30:58.440 | that are going

01:30:58.980 | to improve

01:30:59.560 | your gut microbiome

01:31:00.660 | absolutely is going

01:31:02.440 | to support

01:31:02.900 | that process

01:31:03.540 | this has been

01:31:04.100 | shown over

01:31:04.560 | and over again

01:31:05.180 | because the gut

01:31:05.800 | microbiota

01:31:06.520 | create these

01:31:07.540 | short-chain

01:31:08.140 | fatty acids

01:31:08.920 | that are

01:31:09.480 | critically involved

01:31:10.580 | in this

01:31:11.140 | biochemical pathway

01:31:12.020 | that converts

01:31:12.580 | tryptophan

01:31:13.200 | into serotonin

01:31:14.280 | I'm going to

01:31:15.260 | repeat that

01:31:15.660 | because it's

01:31:16.020 | very important

01:31:16.620 | the microbiota

01:31:17.840 | of the gut

01:31:18.280 | if they're diverse

01:31:18.920 | and you have

01:31:19.320 | enough of them

01:31:19.960 | are going to

01:31:21.020 | produce the

01:31:21.480 | short-chain

01:31:21.940 | fatty acids

01:31:22.680 | that are

01:31:23.200 | critically required

01:31:24.180 | for the conversion

01:31:25.020 | of tryptophan

01:31:25.900 | which again

01:31:26.400 | is going to

01:31:26.780 | come from your

01:31:27.220 | diet

01:31:27.540 | into the

01:31:28.440 | serotonin

01:31:28.960 | of your gut

01:31:29.520 | which in turn

01:31:30.180 | is going to be

01:31:30.900 | relayed

01:31:31.660 | and it's not

01:31:32.800 | the actual

01:31:33.280 | serotonin

01:31:33.840 | that's relayed

01:31:34.400 | but the

01:31:34.720 | presence of

01:31:35.680 | serotonin

01:31:36.280 | at sufficient

01:31:37.220 | levels in the gut

01:31:37.980 | is communicated

01:31:39.100 | by the vagus nerve

01:31:40.180 | up to the

01:31:41.100 | dorsal raphe nucleus

01:31:42.140 | remember there's

01:31:42.580 | some stations

01:31:42.980 | in between

01:31:43.440 | but it's

01:31:43.840 | communicated up

01:31:44.580 | to the dorsal

01:31:45.180 | raphe and your

01:31:46.320 | dorsal raphe then

01:31:47.240 | release a serotonin

01:31:48.420 | in the brain

01:31:48.960 | again a beautiful

01:31:50.180 | coordination of

01:31:51.640 | the body and

01:31:52.760 | the brain

01:31:53.200 | just as activity

01:31:54.320 | levels in the body

01:31:55.520 | and the brain

01:31:55.920 | are matched

01:31:56.380 | through the vagus

01:31:57.040 | or from the brain

01:31:57.980 | to the body

01:31:58.500 | depending on the

01:31:59.040 | direction of flow

01:31:59.800 | right alertness

01:32:00.420 | in the brain

01:32:00.880 | body becomes alert

01:32:01.760 | alertness in the

01:32:02.380 | body brain

01:32:03.060 | becomes alert

01:32:03.680 | serotonin

01:32:04.800 | elevated in the gut

01:32:05.800 | serotonin elevated

01:32:08.180 | in the brain

01:32:08.800 | all of that

01:32:09.640 | happens by way

01:32:10.420 | of vagal

01:32:11.580 | signaling

01:32:12.020 | okay so the

01:32:13.160 | vagus is involved

01:32:14.040 | in lots and

01:32:15.080 | lots of things

01:32:15.700 | it's not just

01:32:16.580 | for calming

01:32:17.000 | down

01:32:17.400 | it's also

01:32:18.400 | for slowing

01:32:19.560 | the heart rate

01:32:20.120 | which is related

01:32:21.220 | to calming

01:32:21.620 | down

01:32:21.960 | but it's

01:32:22.680 | critically required

01:32:23.460 | for this thing

01:32:23.920 | that we're calling

01:32:24.320 | auto-regulation

01:32:25.160 | for increasing

01:32:26.120 | HRV

01:32:26.700 | it's also

01:32:27.820 | involved in

01:32:28.460 | increasing levels

01:32:29.160 | of alertness

01:32:29.780 | and you can do

01:32:30.760 | that through

01:32:31.100 | exercise

01:32:31.540 | it's also

01:32:32.460 | involved in

01:32:33.140 | increasing levels

01:32:33.840 | of serotonin

01:32:34.520 | in the brain

01:32:35.020 | you just

01:32:35.680 | learned about

01:32:36.140 | that

01:32:36.500 | but there is

01:32:37.360 | as you've

01:32:37.820 | probably heard

01:32:38.260 | before

01:32:38.620 | also a role

01:32:39.640 | for the

01:32:39.940 | vagus nerve

01:32:40.520 | in calming

01:32:41.740 | down

01:32:42.400 | now the reason

01:32:43.600 | i saved this

01:32:44.180 | portion for last

01:32:44.980 | is because

01:32:45.460 | there's just

01:32:46.280 | so much

01:32:46.720 | information out

01:32:47.420 | there about

01:32:48.020 | how vagal

01:32:48.940 | activation

01:32:49.420 | calms us

01:32:50.040 | down

01:32:50.320 | and i felt

01:32:51.800 | it was important

01:32:52.320 | that i also

01:32:53.180 | focus on some

01:32:53.880 | of the ways

01:32:54.260 | that vagus

01:32:54.780 | does other

01:32:55.380 | things quite

01:32:56.160 | robustly

01:32:56.840 | including

01:32:57.600 | also enhancing

01:32:58.940 | learning and

01:32:59.700 | plasticity

01:33:00.380 | but i would be

01:33:02.020 | remiss

01:33:02.500 | if i didn't

01:33:03.260 | offer some

01:33:03.760 | of this

01:33:04.060 | science

01:33:04.400 | back

01:33:04.720 | tools

01:33:05.120 | for

01:33:05.900 | calming

01:33:06.940 | yourself

01:33:07.300 | down

01:33:07.760 | by engaging

01:33:08.540 | the vagus

01:33:09.160 | and when i say

01:33:09.840 | engaging the vagus

01:33:10.800 | i mean engaging

01:33:11.560 | very specific

01:33:12.380 | pathways

01:33:13.160 | within the vagus

01:33:14.360 | circuitry

01:33:14.880 | you now of course

01:33:16.180 | can appreciate

01:33:16.740 | that the vagus

01:33:17.920 | nerve

01:33:18.200 | is a super

01:33:19.440 | highway

01:33:19.840 | bi-directional

01:33:20.620 | super highway

01:33:21.300 | of sensory

01:33:22.220 | and motor

01:33:22.860 | connections

01:33:23.420 | has a ton

01:33:24.320 | of specificity

01:33:25.280 | it's signaling

01:33:26.120 | mechanical and

01:33:27.000 | chemical information

01:33:27.720 | it's controlling

01:33:28.320 | the body

01:33:28.760 | and yet

01:33:29.560 | there are

01:33:30.280 | specific pathways

01:33:31.080 | that will

01:33:32.400 | indeed

01:33:32.880 | calm

01:33:33.760 | you

01:33:34.220 | down

01:33:34.880 | if you activate

01:33:35.920 | them

01:33:36.180 | these are the ones

01:33:37.120 | that you typically

01:33:37.640 | hear about at the end

01:33:38.680 | of yoga classes

01:33:39.640 | that you hear about

01:33:40.600 | often online

01:33:41.580 | and i don't want to be

01:33:42.580 | disparaging of any of that

01:33:43.920 | in fact

01:33:44.340 | i love love love

01:33:45.920 | the book

01:33:46.340 | polyvagal theory

01:33:47.340 | by stephen porges

01:33:48.220 | i think it's a beautiful

01:33:49.800 | description

01:33:50.300 | of our understanding

01:33:51.900 | about the vagus nerve

01:33:52.920 | circa

01:33:53.640 | i don't know

01:33:54.540 | maybe 10-15 years ago

01:33:56.480 | which is

01:33:57.420 | not disparaging

01:33:58.600 | at all

01:33:58.960 | i think he did

01:33:59.540 | an incredible

01:34:00.420 | job

01:34:00.920 | of talking

01:34:01.660 | about

01:34:01.980 | the dorsal

01:34:03.080 | motor nucleus

01:34:03.740 | of the vagus

01:34:04.300 | which i'll talk

01:34:04.700 | about in a few

01:34:05.160 | moments

01:34:05.480 | as a pathway

01:34:06.920 | for regulation

01:34:08.200 | of bodily

01:34:08.700 | state

01:34:09.160 | for calming

01:34:09.940 | down

01:34:10.280 | about

01:34:10.700 | the role

01:34:11.740 | of parent-child

01:34:12.680 | relationships

01:34:13.240 | in infancy

01:34:13.900 | and how the vagus

01:34:15.240 | nerve pathways

01:34:15.820 | are present

01:34:16.600 | and can be

01:34:17.240 | activated

01:34:17.840 | early in life

01:34:18.780 | without any

01:34:19.400 | learning or

01:34:19.860 | plasticity

01:34:20.460 | and how that's

01:34:20.940 | so critically

01:34:21.460 | important

01:34:21.900 | to the bond

01:34:23.560 | that's formed

01:34:24.200 | between caretaker

01:34:25.140 | and infant

01:34:25.740 | and there's just

01:34:26.280 | a beautiful

01:34:27.240 | set of studies

01:34:28.040 | and a beautiful

01:34:28.980 | set of clinical

01:34:29.680 | data that he

01:34:30.200 | describes in that

01:34:30.960 | book polyvagal

01:34:31.680 | theory

01:34:31.960 | as it relates

01:34:33.080 | to things like

01:34:33.680 | ptsd etc

01:34:34.800 | so hats off

01:34:36.500 | kudos

01:34:36.920 | and much

01:34:38.040 | respect

01:34:38.480 | and gratitude

01:34:39.160 | to stephen porges

01:34:40.040 | for writing

01:34:40.620 | polyvagal theory

01:34:41.500 | most of what i've

01:34:42.920 | talked about

01:34:43.340 | up until now

01:34:43.980 | are things that

01:34:45.500 | are either touched

01:34:46.500 | on just briefly

01:34:47.280 | or that are not

01:34:48.260 | included in his

01:34:49.120 | book on polyvagal

01:34:49.900 | theory

01:34:50.140 | mostly because

01:34:50.780 | they relate to

01:34:51.540 | data

01:34:51.740 | that had been

01:34:52.160 | accumulated

01:34:52.700 | in the last

01:34:53.440 | 10 or 15

01:34:54.000 | years

01:34:54.380 | and so there

01:34:55.700 | was no way

01:34:56.060 | it could be

01:34:56.400 | in that book

01:34:56.940 | the ways to

01:34:58.420 | calm down

01:34:59.100 | using activation

01:35:00.400 | of specific

01:35:01.000 | vagal pathways

01:35:01.860 | do indeed

01:35:03.180 | start to mimic

01:35:04.720 | some of the

01:35:05.120 | things that we

01:35:05.660 | hear about

01:35:06.220 | in or at

01:35:07.380 | the end

01:35:07.620 | of yoga

01:35:07.980 | classes

01:35:08.420 | or that we

01:35:09.520 | think of

01:35:10.220 | in terms

01:35:10.680 | of kind

01:35:11.320 | of new

01:35:11.660 | agey

01:35:12.320 | types of

01:35:13.540 | things

01:35:13.820 | now

01:35:14.160 | this is coming

01:35:15.280 | from somebody

01:35:15.760 | who earlier

01:35:16.640 | was talking

01:35:17.120 | about breath

01:35:17.880 | work

01:35:18.120 | right

01:35:18.440 | i was talking

01:35:18.880 | about

01:35:19.200 | cyclic

01:35:19.940 | sighing

01:35:20.320 | or cyclic

01:35:20.960 | physiological

01:35:21.580 | sighing

01:35:22.060 | you know

01:35:22.560 | in science

01:35:22.980 | we tend

01:35:23.280 | to call

01:35:23.560 | it

01:35:23.680 | respiration

01:35:24.260 | physiology

01:35:24.840 | we call

01:35:26.020 | it

01:35:26.140 | cyclic

01:35:26.460 | sighing

01:35:26.920 | in yogic

01:35:28.460 | traditions

01:35:28.940 | or in breath

01:35:29.740 | work classes

01:35:30.220 | they might call

01:35:30.760 | it something

01:35:31.120 | else

01:35:31.460 | for those of you

01:35:32.500 | that are familiar

01:35:32.960 | with me

01:35:33.340 | you know

01:35:33.620 | that i appreciate

01:35:34.620 | all the lenses

01:35:35.800 | into ways to be

01:35:37.380 | healthier mentally

01:35:38.100 | physically

01:35:38.580 | and in

01:35:39.140 | two ways to

01:35:40.240 | improve our

01:35:40.680 | performance

01:35:41.180 | i just happen

01:35:42.100 | to take

01:35:42.500 | the biological

01:35:43.440 | typically the

01:35:44.660 | neurobiological

01:35:45.440 | and physiological

01:35:46.320 | perspective on

01:35:47.900 | these things

01:35:48.360 | because i like

01:35:49.260 | to think

01:35:49.680 | in fact

01:35:50.120 | i know

01:35:50.880 | that understanding

01:35:51.820 | mechanism

01:35:52.400 | gives us

01:35:53.100 | more agency

01:35:53.960 | over these

01:35:55.020 | protocols

01:35:55.460 | and practices

01:35:56.160 | so what i'm going

01:35:57.480 | to describe next

01:35:58.260 | is my view

01:35:59.440 | of the specific

01:36:00.980 | practices

01:36:01.520 | that yes

01:36:02.260 | absolutely

01:36:02.880 | exist

01:36:03.440 | in other territories

01:36:04.840 | related to yogic

01:36:05.680 | practices

01:36:06.180 | etc

01:36:06.780 | that have been

01:36:08.260 | purported to

01:36:09.420 | increase levels

01:36:10.580 | of parasympathetic

01:36:11.580 | activation

01:36:12.120 | by engaging

01:36:12.740 | the vagus

01:36:13.340 | the reason

01:36:14.280 | i selected

01:36:14.840 | the things

01:36:15.200 | i'm about

01:36:15.540 | to tell you

01:36:16.060 | is because

01:36:16.640 | i ran them

01:36:17.900 | by two

01:36:18.360 | colleagues

01:36:18.760 | one who is

01:36:19.800 | a neurologist

01:36:20.940 | and psychiatrist

01:36:21.600 | practicing

01:36:22.600 | the other

01:36:23.700 | who is

01:36:24.520 | a neurosurgeon

01:36:26.140 | and is very

01:36:27.460 | familiar with

01:36:28.340 | the vagus

01:36:28.920 | and what i did

01:36:30.400 | is i said

01:36:30.780 | listen there's

01:36:31.360 | all this stuff

01:36:31.780 | out there

01:36:32.180 | you can hear

01:36:33.440 | all sorts of

01:36:34.360 | interesting things

01:36:35.020 | on youtube

01:36:35.460 | and elsewhere

01:36:35.880 | about ways to

01:36:36.560 | calm down

01:36:36.920 | by engaging

01:36:37.460 | the vagus

01:36:38.020 | which of these

01:36:39.240 | and i basically

01:36:40.620 | described five

01:36:41.880 | which of these

01:36:42.940 | typical five

01:36:44.200 | practices

01:36:44.660 | do you think

01:36:45.240 | actually triggers

01:36:46.480 | activation

01:36:47.800 | of the specific

01:36:49.580 | nerve fibers

01:36:50.280 | that would trigger

01:36:50.980 | a parasympathetic

01:36:51.900 | response

01:36:52.500 | and what was

01:36:53.700 | interesting

01:36:54.040 | is that both

01:36:54.960 | of them said

01:36:55.640 | actually there are

01:36:56.900 | three of them

01:36:57.660 | that absolutely

01:36:58.840 | trigger activation

01:36:59.780 | of the parasympathetic

01:37:01.560 | response

01:37:02.000 | and we know

01:37:02.500 | because we've

01:37:02.980 | recorded from

01:37:03.880 | those neural

01:37:04.380 | pathways

01:37:04.840 | and so

01:37:05.740 | it's obvious

01:37:06.740 | that they work

01:37:07.780 | so those are

01:37:08.500 | the three

01:37:08.760 | that i'm going

01:37:09.180 | to describe

01:37:09.740 | i want to

01:37:11.300 | remind you

01:37:11.680 | that if

01:37:12.040 | you want

01:37:12.240 | to calm

01:37:12.540 | down

01:37:12.760 | fast

01:37:13.220 | the

01:37:13.820 | physiological

01:37:14.260 | sigh

01:37:14.700 | is still

01:37:15.120 | going

01:37:15.280 | to be

01:37:15.600 | your

01:37:15.880 | best

01:37:16.140 | tool

01:37:16.460 | if you want

01:37:17.340 | to improve

01:37:17.980 | hrv

01:37:18.620 | you want

01:37:19.180 | to get

01:37:19.340 | better

01:37:19.580 | auto-regulation

01:37:20.440 | and you want

01:37:20.900 | your hrv

01:37:21.340 | to improve

01:37:21.780 | in sleep

01:37:22.160 | as well

01:37:22.600 | the deliberate

01:37:24.120 | exhales

01:37:24.660 | from time

01:37:25.080 | to time

01:37:25.420 | spread throughout

01:37:25.920 | the day

01:37:26.340 | still going

01:37:27.000 | to be great

01:37:27.340 | still do

01:37:27.760 | your high

01:37:28.020 | intensity

01:37:28.320 | interval

01:37:28.640 | training

01:37:28.940 | and other

01:37:29.220 | ways

01:37:29.400 | to

01:37:29.520 | increase

01:37:29.860 | hrv

01:37:30.340 | but

01:37:31.100 | if you

01:37:31.560 | want

01:37:31.840 | to use

01:37:32.280 | the vagal

01:37:32.780 | pathways

01:37:33.200 | to calm

01:37:33.880 | down

01:37:34.160 | here

01:37:34.880 | are

01:37:35.080 | the three

01:37:35.440 | best

01:37:35.700 | ways

01:37:36.020 | that

01:37:36.500 | are

01:37:36.640 | supported

01:37:37.160 | by the

01:37:37.620 | neurophysiology

01:37:38.300 | in humans

01:37:39.000 | that I'm going

01:37:40.180 | to tell you

01:37:40.500 | about

01:37:40.700 | the first

01:37:41.340 | capitalizes

01:37:42.000 | on the fact

01:37:42.640 | that a major

01:37:43.660 | branch of the

01:37:44.400 | vagus

01:37:44.820 | that extends

01:37:46.540 | out of the

01:37:47.100 | brainstem

01:37:47.640 | and that

01:37:48.540 | includes a lot

01:37:49.340 | of those

01:37:49.640 | sensory afferents

01:37:50.680 | those axons

01:37:51.620 | coursing up

01:37:52.980 | from the body

01:37:53.760 | to the brainstem

01:37:54.780 | runs along

01:37:56.660 | a portion

01:37:57.180 | of the neck

01:37:57.740 | that's deep

01:37:58.420 | to the

01:37:58.860 | muscle

01:37:59.580 | that's going

01:37:59.960 | to stick

01:38:00.280 | out if you

01:38:00.700 | turn your

01:38:01.140 | head to

01:38:01.500 | one side

01:38:02.240 | now I'm

01:38:02.780 | specifically

01:38:03.220 | avoiding

01:38:03.680 | the muscle

01:38:04.740 | and vasculature

01:38:05.700 | nomenclature

01:38:06.320 | right now

01:38:06.760 | because we've

01:38:07.240 | already had

01:38:07.680 | so many

01:38:07.980 | terms

01:38:08.320 | this episode

01:38:08.960 | and it's

01:38:09.860 | really not

01:38:10.180 | necessary

01:38:10.540 | to understand

01:38:11.080 | how to

01:38:11.320 | use these

01:38:11.660 | practices

01:38:12.060 | but

01:38:12.640 | were you

01:38:13.480 | to say

01:38:13.960 | lie down

01:38:15.060 | or even

01:38:15.640 | just sit

01:38:16.160 | at a

01:38:17.000 | table surface

01:38:17.680 | like I am

01:38:18.200 | now

01:38:18.500 | for those

01:38:18.940 | of you

01:38:19.080 | that are

01:38:19.220 | listening

01:38:19.460 | I'm just

01:38:19.840 | seated

01:38:20.360 | in front

01:38:20.740 | of my

01:38:20.980 | desk

01:38:21.260 | I'm

01:38:21.540 | putting

01:38:21.680 | my

01:38:21.940 | hands

01:38:22.520 | palms

01:38:23.060 | down

01:38:23.520 | my

01:38:24.560 | elbows

01:38:24.900 | at the

01:38:25.240 | edge

01:38:25.460 | of the

01:38:25.660 | table

01:38:25.940 | and

01:38:26.780 | what I'm

01:38:27.140 | going

01:38:27.260 | to do

01:38:27.500 | next

01:38:27.840 | is I'm

01:38:28.320 | going

01:38:28.520 | to push

01:38:29.540 | my

01:38:29.860 | elbows

01:38:30.320 | down

01:38:31.160 | and away

01:38:32.400 | from my

01:38:32.940 | ears

01:38:33.320 | then I'm

01:38:34.980 | going to

01:38:35.280 | turn my

01:38:35.780 | head up

01:38:36.460 | and to

01:38:37.140 | the right

01:38:37.680 | and I'm

01:38:38.860 | going to

01:38:39.000 | talk while

01:38:39.360 | I'm doing

01:38:39.620 | it but

01:38:39.840 | you wouldn't

01:38:40.140 | want to

01:38:40.600 | and when

01:38:42.440 | one does

01:38:42.960 | that you

01:38:43.520 | feel a

01:38:44.600 | kind of

01:38:44.980 | stretch

01:38:46.040 | both on

01:38:46.920 | the outside

01:38:47.440 | of the neck

01:38:47.960 | so that's

01:38:48.460 | on the

01:38:48.860 | left hand

01:38:49.180 | side as

01:38:49.660 | well as

01:38:50.000 | in particular

01:38:50.620 | on the

01:38:51.140 | right hand

01:38:51.780 | side

01:38:52.200 | okay

01:38:53.360 | and it's

01:38:54.720 | important to

01:38:55.100 | keep your

01:38:55.400 | elbows

01:38:55.740 | pushing down

01:38:56.460 | and you're

01:38:56.800 | looking up

01:38:57.260 | into the

01:38:57.520 | right

01:38:57.660 | and then you

01:38:57.940 | do it

01:38:58.140 | to the

01:38:58.320 | other

01:38:58.480 | side

01:38:58.720 | you go

01:38:58.980 | up

01:38:59.180 | and

01:38:59.320 | to

01:38:59.360 | the

01:38:59.520 | left

01:38:59.780 | yes

01:39:00.380 | this is

01:39:00.800 | looking

01:39:01.060 | a lot

01:39:01.520 | like

01:39:01.880 | yoga

01:39:02.360 | but

01:39:04.360 | this is

01:39:05.140 | not

01:39:05.860 | yoga

01:39:06.220 | this is

01:39:07.180 | a way

01:39:09.600 | of mechanically

01:39:11.140 | activating

01:39:11.880 | some of the

01:39:13.100 | fibers

01:39:13.560 | that course

01:39:14.720 | along the

01:39:15.400 | vasculature

01:39:16.080 | and the

01:39:16.520 | musculature

01:39:17.000 | at the side

01:39:17.660 | of the neck

01:39:18.160 | that is

01:39:19.420 | a major

01:39:20.120 | pathway

01:39:20.520 | of the

01:39:20.840 | vagus

01:39:21.240 | now I

01:39:21.820 | had to

01:39:22.180 | ask my

01:39:22.740 | neurosurgeon

01:39:23.960 | and

01:39:24.560 | neurophysiology

01:39:25.620 | friends

01:39:26.260 | does this

01:39:27.520 | actually

01:39:28.060 | activate

01:39:28.660 | the

01:39:28.860 | vagus

01:39:29.180 | nerve

01:39:29.460 | and

01:39:30.300 | they

01:39:30.440 | said

01:39:30.680 | yes

01:39:31.240 | to

01:39:31.600 | some

01:39:31.880 | degree

01:39:32.200 | it's

01:39:32.580 | mechanically

01:39:33.400 | going to

01:39:33.800 | activate

01:39:34.160 | some of

01:39:34.680 | those

01:39:34.940 | fibers

01:39:36.240 | some of

01:39:36.680 | those axons

01:39:37.360 | is it going to

01:39:38.400 | activate the

01:39:38.900 | calming pathways

01:39:39.600 | of your vagus

01:39:40.320 | nerve as much as

01:39:41.620 | say electrical

01:39:42.220 | stimulation of your

01:39:43.060 | vagus nerve

01:39:43.520 | no it's not

01:39:44.980 | electrical stimulation

01:39:46.460 | of the vagus nerve

01:39:47.120 | is used for

01:39:48.040 | major depression

01:39:48.700 | it's also used

01:39:50.100 | using different

01:39:51.220 | patterns of

01:39:51.740 | stimulation

01:39:52.100 | frequency

01:39:52.600 | to calm people

01:39:53.300 | down it can be

01:39:54.060 | used for a number

01:39:54.900 | of different things

01:39:55.400 | depending on the way

01:39:56.120 | stimulation is done

01:39:57.260 | and where it's done

01:39:58.780 | along the vagus nerve

01:39:59.640 | pathways

01:40:00.140 | however

01:40:01.180 | this basically

01:40:03.700 | mechanical activation

01:40:04.880 | of this vagus nerve

01:40:06.220 | pathway

01:40:06.700 | it doesn't just feel

01:40:07.960 | good because you're

01:40:08.500 | stretching your neck

01:40:09.240 | out

01:40:09.480 | it does indeed

01:40:11.160 | activate some of

01:40:12.300 | the sensory

01:40:13.520 | and probably some of

01:40:14.280 | the motor fibers as

01:40:15.340 | well that course

01:40:16.060 | through the vagus

01:40:16.900 | nerve

01:40:17.140 | and keep in mind

01:40:18.080 | this is interesting

01:40:18.720 | that the majority

01:40:19.460 | of the parasympathetic

01:40:20.520 | effect of mechanically

01:40:22.360 | activating those vagal

01:40:23.820 | nerve fibers is going

01:40:24.780 | to be on the right

01:40:25.560 | hand side

01:40:26.220 | i know this is

01:40:27.080 | starting to sound a

01:40:27.620 | little bit like yoga

01:40:28.620 | classes where they say

01:40:29.640 | hey you know breathing

01:40:30.560 | through your left

01:40:31.160 | nostril or your right

01:40:31.980 | nostril is going to

01:40:33.480 | reflect sympathetic

01:40:34.880 | or parasympathetic

01:40:35.920 | activation

01:40:36.520 | guess what

01:40:37.840 | when we had

01:40:38.580 | noam sobel

01:40:39.240 | one of the world's

01:40:40.080 | foremost experts

01:40:40.880 | on olfaction

01:40:41.620 | and basically

01:40:43.000 | sniffing and

01:40:43.760 | breathing

01:40:44.100 | and its effects

01:40:45.100 | on the brain

01:40:45.600 | on the podcast

01:40:46.440 | he indeed told us

01:40:47.680 | that the switching

01:40:48.480 | back and forth

01:40:49.160 | between right

01:40:49.820 | and left

01:40:50.260 | nostril

01:40:50.840 | dominance

01:40:51.280 | is indeed

01:40:51.840 | governed

01:40:52.240 | by changes

01:40:53.120 | in that seesaw

01:40:54.600 | of the autonomic

01:40:55.340 | nervous system

01:40:55.860 | it switches over

01:40:56.540 | i believe once

01:40:57.280 | about every 90 minutes

01:40:58.560 | incredible right

01:40:59.560 | obviously impacted

01:41:00.420 | if you have a deviated

01:41:01.340 | septum etc

01:41:02.020 | so the stuff that

01:41:03.020 | comes from yogic

01:41:03.640 | tradition

01:41:04.020 | while it might not

01:41:04.700 | be mechanistically

01:41:06.060 | accurate

01:41:06.580 | and it sometimes

01:41:07.240 | includes other

01:41:08.040 | things that are

01:41:08.840 | unrelated to the

01:41:09.580 | mechanism

01:41:09.940 | oftentimes

01:41:10.840 | it's pretty

01:41:11.780 | spot on

01:41:12.680 | so if you want

01:41:14.320 | to calm down

01:41:14.980 | and you want to

01:41:15.460 | do that by

01:41:15.900 | activating your

01:41:16.420 | vagus

01:41:16.700 | you already know

01:41:17.200 | a bunch of ways

01:41:17.820 | you can do that

01:41:18.360 | we talked about

01:41:18.880 | it

01:41:19.060 | the ear thing

01:41:20.580 | the exhale thing

01:41:21.440 | etc

01:41:21.740 | physiological size

01:41:23.060 | but this simple process

01:41:25.460 | of looking up

01:41:26.420 | and to the right

01:41:28.420 | and then up

01:41:30.940 | and to the left

01:41:31.420 | and the reason

01:41:31.780 | for doing it

01:41:32.200 | both sides

01:41:32.600 | is you'll feel

01:41:33.040 | a stretch

01:41:33.520 | on one side

01:41:34.040 | then a contraction

01:41:34.700 | on the other

01:41:35.440 | doing that a few

01:41:36.460 | times back and forth

01:41:37.360 | indeed

01:41:37.820 | can lead to a

01:41:38.840 | calmer state

01:41:39.500 | following

01:41:39.900 | how robust

01:41:41.220 | that is

01:41:41.780 | it's going to

01:41:42.940 | depend on a lot

01:41:43.900 | of factors

01:41:44.440 | frankly

01:41:45.060 | I don't think

01:41:46.000 | it's as robust

01:41:46.920 | as the physiological

01:41:47.940 | sigh or exhale

01:41:48.840 | emphasized

01:41:49.280 | breathing

01:41:49.780 | I don't think

01:41:50.580 | it's as fast

01:41:51.280 | but nonetheless

01:41:51.760 | it is supported

01:41:52.700 | by the anatomy

01:41:53.360 | it's supported

01:41:53.960 | by the function

01:41:54.620 | and a lot of people

01:41:55.520 | simply like to stretch

01:41:56.720 | so I'd be remiss

01:41:58.320 | if I didn't include

01:41:59.100 | that

01:41:59.360 | the other way

01:42:00.340 | that you can

01:42:00.980 | calm down

01:42:01.700 | by way of

01:42:02.400 | incorporating

01:42:03.040 | vagus nerve

01:42:03.720 | activation

01:42:04.220 | and you can do

01:42:04.820 | that non-invasively

01:42:05.880 | is the following

01:42:06.840 | all right

01:42:07.520 | this one

01:42:08.020 | again

01:42:08.560 | verified

01:42:09.760 | with

01:42:10.500 | people who are

01:42:11.620 | expert

01:42:12.080 | in these

01:42:12.820 | specific pathways

01:42:13.760 | in humans

01:42:14.540 | and

01:42:15.540 | I know

01:42:16.540 | it might not

01:42:16.980 | sound

01:42:17.320 | neuroscientific

01:42:18.340 | but believe

01:42:19.120 | it or not

01:42:19.620 | there's stuff

01:42:20.220 | that you hear

01:42:20.940 | no pun intended

01:42:22.120 | about humming

01:42:23.100 | and activation

01:42:24.540 | of the vagus nerve

01:42:25.460 | and calming

01:42:26.480 | down by way

01:42:27.220 | of humming

01:42:27.680 | because of the way

01:42:28.340 | it impacts

01:42:28.780 | the vagus nerve

01:42:29.500 | turns out

01:42:30.500 | to be true

01:42:31.440 | however

01:42:32.280 | and get this

01:42:33.480 | you actually have

01:42:34.040 | to hum

01:42:34.600 | correctly

01:42:35.480 | now

01:42:36.280 | you might think

01:42:37.100 | humming is just

01:42:37.800 | that's not

01:42:40.460 | what we're talking

01:42:41.100 | about here

01:42:41.540 | what we're talking

01:42:42.940 | about here

01:42:43.440 | is

01:42:44.260 | again

01:42:44.960 | mechanically

01:42:45.680 | through vibration

01:42:46.560 | activating

01:42:47.360 | the branches

01:42:47.820 | of the vagus

01:42:48.480 | that innervate

01:42:49.600 | the larynx

01:42:50.300 | and now

01:42:50.720 | keep in mind

01:42:51.300 | some of the neurons

01:42:52.560 | in nucleus

01:42:53.020 | ambiguous

01:42:53.400 | that carry

01:42:54.060 | neurons

01:42:54.540 | that are

01:42:54.940 | officially

01:42:55.420 | members

01:42:56.440 | of the vagus

01:42:57.100 | nerve

01:42:57.360 | they travel

01:42:58.560 | with neurons

01:42:59.220 | that are not

01:43:00.040 | officially

01:43:00.520 | members of

01:43:01.060 | the vagus

01:43:01.440 | but they travel

01:43:02.040 | together

01:43:02.520 | from nucleus

01:43:03.260 | ambiguous

01:43:03.640 | to a lot

01:43:04.540 | of the speech

01:43:05.200 | machinery

01:43:05.720 | in your throat

01:43:07.280 | and in your mouth

01:43:08.180 | and with your tongue

01:43:09.300 | and your lips

01:43:09.980 | okay

01:43:10.260 | that's a discussion

01:43:11.080 | for an entirely

01:43:11.680 | different podcast

01:43:12.460 | but it turns out

01:43:13.640 | if you view the hum

01:43:14.840 | through the perspective

01:43:15.780 | of that it's an h

01:43:17.860 | and an m

01:43:18.820 | right

01:43:19.220 | hmm

01:43:19.800 | right

01:43:20.420 | that if you want

01:43:22.700 | to activate

01:43:23.240 | this vagal pathway

01:43:24.280 | to calm down

01:43:25.560 | the way to hum

01:43:26.880 | correctly

01:43:27.520 | sounds wild

01:43:28.620 | but the way to hum

01:43:29.480 | correctly

01:43:29.920 | is actually

01:43:30.540 | to extend

01:43:31.280 | the h part

01:43:32.360 | not the m

01:43:33.640 | i talked to somebody

01:43:34.500 | who's expert

01:43:35.120 | in speech

01:43:35.940 | neurophysiology

01:43:36.800 | and it's because

01:43:37.580 | the h part

01:43:38.340 | the

01:43:38.620 | is different

01:43:41.460 | than the

01:43:41.900 | part

01:43:43.100 | the

01:43:43.300 | is slightly

01:43:44.220 | higher frequency

01:43:45.120 | and actually

01:43:46.080 | if you notice

01:43:46.640 | if you do

01:43:47.060 | an extended

01:43:48.040 | h hum

01:43:48.780 | and then

01:43:49.400 | an m hum

01:43:50.080 | after

01:43:50.480 | you'll notice

01:43:50.960 | that it shifts

01:43:51.620 | from the back

01:43:52.840 | and deeper

01:43:53.340 | parts of your throat

01:43:54.280 | which is where

01:43:55.180 | the vagal activation

01:43:56.140 | comes from

01:43:56.780 | to sort of

01:43:58.380 | further up

01:43:59.000 | along your speech

01:43:59.740 | pathway

01:44:00.060 | toward your mouth

01:44:00.800 | and your lips

01:44:02.260 | so just give

01:44:03.120 | that a try

01:44:03.660 | for a second

01:44:04.260 | maybe you have

01:44:04.780 | to do this

01:44:05.120 | in private

01:44:05.540 | because otherwise

01:44:06.100 | it'd be too

01:44:06.480 | embarrassing

01:44:06.880 | but you

01:44:07.300 | it's incredibly

01:44:08.780 | calming

01:44:09.160 | i did this earlier

01:44:09.920 | and i was really

01:44:10.880 | positively surprised

01:44:12.300 | how well it worked

01:44:13.200 | it's basically this

01:44:14.480 | you're trying to get

01:44:15.880 | the vibration

01:44:16.660 | to move

01:44:17.320 | from the back

01:44:18.240 | of your throat

01:44:18.920 | down your neck

01:44:20.180 | into your chest

01:44:21.180 | and even into your belly

01:44:22.140 | and diaphragm

01:44:22.900 | so it goes like this

01:44:23.920 | if you want to know

01:44:31.780 | what it's like

01:44:32.460 | from a sensation

01:44:33.360 | perspective

01:44:33.920 | think about gargling

01:44:35.420 | this is getting

01:44:36.820 | crazier and crazier

01:44:37.580 | toward the end

01:44:38.020 | of this podcast

01:44:38.540 | but indeed

01:44:39.600 | if you look online

01:44:40.800 | gargling

01:44:41.340 | has been proposed

01:44:42.080 | as a way

01:44:42.620 | to activate

01:44:43.280 | the calming aspects

01:44:44.660 | so-called parasympathetic

01:44:46.060 | aspects

01:44:46.440 | of the vagus nerve

01:44:47.360 | and indeed

01:44:47.880 | when you gargle

01:44:48.980 | you're using

01:44:49.660 | the back

01:44:50.140 | of your throat

01:44:50.820 | that's the sensation

01:44:52.100 | it's this vibration

01:44:53.120 | at the back

01:44:53.680 | of your throat

01:44:54.100 | so when you hum

01:44:54.860 | emphasizing the h part

01:44:56.540 | of the hmm

01:44:57.280 | and leaving off

01:44:58.800 | the m part

01:44:59.580 | it's

01:45:00.000 | and you can actually

01:45:05.160 | move the vibration

01:45:06.400 | down into your chest

01:45:07.620 | i find it's easier

01:45:08.340 | if i'm lying down

01:45:09.220 | and when you do that

01:45:11.060 | it's quite remarkable

01:45:13.580 | how fast you calm down

01:45:15.400 | but give this a try

01:45:16.440 | i know it might seem

01:45:17.300 | a little silly

01:45:17.900 | but if you want

01:45:18.960 | to try and really

01:45:20.160 | deeply relax

01:45:21.520 | this extended humming

01:45:23.300 | that you're trying

01:45:23.880 | to move down

01:45:24.720 | further and further

01:45:25.880 | from say

01:45:27.640 | your lips

01:45:28.280 | to the back

01:45:28.760 | of your throat

01:45:29.300 | to deeper

01:45:30.420 | in your throat

01:45:30.880 | near your adam's apple

01:45:31.860 | to your chest region

01:45:32.920 | even into your abdomen

01:45:34.760 | and your diaphragm

01:45:36.220 | you'll notice

01:45:36.700 | that it really

01:45:37.540 | really calms you down

01:45:38.380 | this is also

01:45:39.060 | it turns out

01:45:40.120 | because i talked

01:45:40.600 | to somebody

01:45:40.980 | who is a singer

01:45:42.180 | this is the way

01:45:42.900 | that singers

01:45:43.820 | often will

01:45:44.620 | start to

01:45:45.660 | relax

01:45:46.600 | in order to get

01:45:47.400 | into some

01:45:47.760 | of the deeper

01:45:48.220 | frequency notes

01:45:49.020 | that they need

01:45:49.440 | to hit

01:45:49.700 | with their voice

01:45:50.340 | as you've probably

01:45:51.480 | observed high notes

01:45:52.600 | sort of bring people

01:45:53.300 | up into their head

01:45:54.820 | and up even if

01:45:55.680 | they're using

01:45:55.980 | their diaphragm

01:45:56.680 | higher and higher

01:45:57.480 | and higher

01:45:57.940 | whereas lower

01:45:59.080 | frequency sounds

01:46:00.000 | deeper and deeper

01:46:00.980 | and it's just

01:46:01.620 | mechanical activation

01:46:02.720 | of the particular

01:46:03.880 | branches of the

01:46:04.560 | vagus

01:46:04.940 | that are able

01:46:06.360 | to drive this

01:46:07.160 | parasympathetic

01:46:08.000 | response

01:46:08.580 | and if you

01:46:09.680 | notice

01:46:10.440 | the hum

01:46:11.580 | is like

01:46:12.540 | all speech

01:46:13.340 | and exhale

01:46:14.960 | it's a long

01:46:16.100 | slow exhale

01:46:16.900 | so this is the

01:46:17.860 | third part

01:46:18.280 | there's also

01:46:18.780 | a collateral

01:46:19.600 | activation

01:46:20.400 | which is just

01:46:21.080 | neuroscience speak

01:46:22.420 | for activation

01:46:23.520 | of that deceleration

01:46:24.800 | pathway

01:46:25.520 | when you do

01:46:26.460 | this humming

01:46:27.020 | at the back

01:46:28.000 | of your throat

01:46:28.480 | and down

01:46:28.880 | into your chest

01:46:29.560 | and into your belly

01:46:30.320 | you're also getting

01:46:31.460 | the same effect

01:46:32.160 | that you get

01:46:32.620 | with an exhale

01:46:33.160 | which is to slow

01:46:34.080 | the heart rate

01:46:34.860 | way

01:46:35.440 | way

01:46:36.220 | down

01:46:37.440 | so it turns out

01:46:38.820 | the stuff they say

01:46:39.480 | at retreats

01:46:40.000 | in yoga classes

01:46:40.740 | is mechanistically

01:46:42.920 | supported

01:46:43.580 | at least some of it is

01:46:44.840 | and some of it

01:46:46.160 | perhaps isn't

01:46:47.080 | and that doesn't

01:46:47.760 | really matter right now

01:46:48.640 | what we're talking about

01:46:49.480 | is the incredible

01:46:50.940 | pathway

01:46:51.800 | the incredible

01:46:52.840 | neural circuit

01:46:53.660 | that is

01:46:54.520 | the vagus nerve

01:46:55.580 | in fact calling it

01:46:56.400 | the vagus nerve

01:46:57.220 | you now realize

01:46:58.380 | as I talked about

01:46:59.120 | at the beginning

01:46:59.420 | of the episode

01:46:59.960 | is really not

01:47:00.840 | sufficient

01:47:01.200 | to encapsulate

01:47:02.320 | the incredible

01:47:04.060 | variety

01:47:05.600 | of different

01:47:06.040 | pathways

01:47:06.520 | the sensory

01:47:07.420 | stuff up

01:47:08.000 | from the body

01:47:08.660 | the motor

01:47:09.220 | stuff down

01:47:09.820 | from the brain

01:47:10.480 | the way you can

01:47:11.100 | calm down

01:47:11.640 | the way you can

01:47:12.220 | alert yourself

01:47:13.560 | the relationship

01:47:14.760 | and pairing

01:47:15.440 | of serotonin levels

01:47:16.420 | in the gut

01:47:17.060 | through the microbiome

01:47:18.200 | and what you eat

01:47:19.020 | and the tryptophan

01:47:19.800 | with serotonin levels

01:47:20.720 | in the brain

01:47:21.260 | and mood

01:47:21.860 | and neuroplasticity

01:47:23.680 | and learning

01:47:24.160 | and to be fair

01:47:25.800 | we didn't even

01:47:27.280 | cover everything

01:47:27.900 | that the vagus nerve

01:47:28.660 | does

01:47:29.060 | there's this whole

01:47:29.680 | landscape

01:47:30.140 | of electrical

01:47:31.300 | stimulation

01:47:31.880 | of the vagus nerve

01:47:32.680 | transcranial magnetic

01:47:33.740 | stimulation

01:47:34.280 | of the parts

01:47:34.800 | of the brain

01:47:35.260 | like the dorsal

01:47:35.880 | lateral prefrontal

01:47:37.120 | cortex

01:47:37.460 | that allow you

01:47:38.820 | to engage

01:47:39.640 | more plasticity

01:47:40.500 | and control

01:47:40.920 | over autoregulation

01:47:42.000 | that stuff

01:47:43.280 | all requires

01:47:43.900 | devices

01:47:44.520 | and a physician

01:47:45.560 | or a laboratory

01:47:46.680 | to deliver

01:47:47.380 | so I focused

01:47:48.060 | on the things

01:47:48.560 | that you can do

01:47:49.500 | to activate

01:47:50.780 | your vagus

01:47:51.340 | in the various

01:47:51.840 | ways that's

01:47:52.420 | going to serve

01:47:52.900 | you best

01:47:53.360 | in terms of

01:47:53.800 | mental health

01:47:54.320 | physical health

01:47:54.980 | and performance

01:47:55.640 | and I like

01:47:56.620 | to think

01:47:56.920 | that you also

01:47:57.740 | learned a lot

01:47:58.540 | about the vagus

01:47:59.620 | nerve biology

01:48:00.380 | both structurally

01:48:01.460 | and functionally

01:48:02.340 | I personally

01:48:03.020 | find it to be

01:48:03.580 | one of the most

01:48:04.480 | incredible aspects

01:48:05.300 | of the nervous

01:48:05.880 | system

01:48:06.220 | it exists

01:48:07.060 | in all mammals

01:48:07.960 | it's also

01:48:08.680 | in non-mammalian

01:48:10.200 | vertebrates

01:48:10.760 | but it's definitely

01:48:12.600 | in us humans

01:48:14.200 | and it's absolutely

01:48:15.460 | active from the time

01:48:16.420 | we're born

01:48:16.900 | until the very last

01:48:18.740 | breath we take

01:48:19.420 | in hopefully

01:48:20.460 | late late age

01:48:21.540 | and it's just

01:48:22.720 | a miraculous pathway

01:48:23.840 | nature

01:48:24.840 | created this

01:48:26.580 | vagus nerve

01:48:27.300 | thing

01:48:27.640 | and you can

01:48:29.180 | control it

01:48:29.780 | and understanding

01:48:31.140 | the mechanisms

01:48:31.720 | by which you

01:48:32.520 | can control it

01:48:33.180 | I do believe

01:48:33.800 | is the best way

01:48:34.940 | to go about it

01:48:35.760 | so thank you

01:48:36.960 | for joining me

01:48:37.500 | on this mechanistic

01:48:38.580 | slash practical

01:48:39.580 | voyage

01:48:39.980 | through the vagus

01:48:41.060 | nerve

01:48:41.320 | I'm enchanted

01:48:42.440 | by the vagus

01:48:43.080 | nerve

01:48:43.340 | and I like to

01:48:44.420 | think that

01:48:44.860 | you might be

01:48:45.640 | too

01:48:46.080 | if you're learning

01:48:46.980 | from and or

01:48:47.560 | enjoying this podcast

01:48:48.400 | please subscribe

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01:49:00.660 | review

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01:49:06.760 | beginning and

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01:49:17.300 | please put those

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01:49:19.500 | I do read

01:49:20.500 | all the comments

01:49:21.260 | for those of you

01:49:22.100 | that haven't heard

01:49:22.640 | I have a new book

01:49:23.360 | coming out

01:49:23.840 | it's my very first

01:49:24.740 | book

01:49:25.020 | it's entitled

01:49:26.120 | Protocols

01:49:26.940 | an Operating Manual

01:49:27.920 | for the Human Body

01:49:28.940 | this is a book

01:49:29.540 | that I've been working

01:49:30.120 | on for more than

01:49:30.600 | five years

01:49:31.300 | and that's based

01:49:31.940 | on more than

01:49:32.440 | 30 years

01:49:33.240 | of research

01:49:34.360 | and experience

01:49:35.080 | and it covers

01:49:35.880 | protocols

01:49:36.380 | for everything

01:49:36.920 | from sleep

01:49:37.740 | to exercise

01:49:39.020 | to stress control

01:49:40.540 | protocols

01:49:41.300 | related to focus

01:49:42.300 | and motivation

01:49:42.920 | and of course

01:49:43.940 | I provide

01:49:44.580 | the scientific

01:49:45.600 | substantiation

01:49:46.460 | for the protocols

01:49:47.460 | that are included

01:49:48.500 | the book is now

01:49:49.300 | available by presale

01:49:50.360 | at protocolsbook.com

01:49:52.200 | there you can find

01:49:53.240 | links to various vendors

01:49:54.720 | you can pick the one

01:49:55.680 | that you like best

01:49:56.580 | again the book is called

01:49:57.740 | Protocols

01:49:58.520 | an Operating Manual

01:49:59.540 | for the Human Body

01:50:00.740 | and if you're not

01:50:01.740 | and if you're not

01:50:01.760 | already following me

01:50:02.600 | on social media

01:50:03.320 | I am Huberman Lab

01:50:04.420 | on all social media

01:50:05.500 | platforms

01:50:06.020 | so that's

01:50:06.740 | Instagram

01:50:07.160 | X

01:50:07.720 | Threads

01:50:08.220 | Facebook

01:50:08.620 | and LinkedIn

01:50:09.520 | and on all those

01:50:10.800 | platforms

01:50:11.260 | I discuss science

01:50:12.220 | and science

01:50:12.620 | related tools

01:50:13.300 | some of which

01:50:14.080 | overlaps with the

01:50:14.780 | content of the

01:50:15.260 | Huberman Lab podcast

01:50:16.120 | but much of which

01:50:16.940 | is distinct from

01:50:17.900 | the information

01:50:18.460 | on the Huberman Lab

01:50:19.400 | podcast

01:50:19.760 | again

01:50:20.260 | it's Huberman Lab

01:50:21.400 | on all social media

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01:50:23.000 | and if you haven't

01:50:23.960 | already subscribed

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01:50:29.180 | that includes

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01:50:30.960 | as well as

01:50:31.440 | what we call

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01:50:32.460 | in the form

01:50:33.260 | of one to

01:50:33.780 | three page

01:50:34.220 | PDFs

01:50:34.860 | that cover

01:50:35.480 | everything from

01:50:36.180 | how to optimize

01:50:36.800 | your sleep

01:50:37.360 | how to optimize

01:50:38.000 | dopamine

01:50:38.480 | deliberate cold

01:50:39.200 | exposure

01:50:39.680 | we have a

01:50:40.600 | foundational

01:50:40.960 | fitness protocol

01:50:41.860 | that covers

01:50:42.360 | cardiovascular

01:50:42.800 | training

01:50:43.420 | and resistance

01:50:44.040 | training

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01:50:47.900 | go to

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01:50:49.180 | go to the

01:50:49.640 | menu tab

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01:50:51.520 | to newsletter

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01:50:53.500 | and I should

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01:50:56.700 | thank you

01:50:57.460 | once again

01:50:57.860 | for joining

01:50:58.320 | me for today's

01:50:59.000 | discussion

01:50:59.440 | about the

01:51:00.320 | vagus nerve

01:51:00.900 | and all the

01:51:01.500 | incredible things

01:51:02.300 | it can do

01:51:02.860 | and all the

01:51:03.340 | incredible things

01:51:04.200 | that you can

01:51:04.640 | do with it

01:51:05.480 | and last

01:51:06.540 | but certainly

01:51:07.100 | not least

01:51:07.660 | thank you

01:51:08.360 | for your

01:51:08.640 | interest

01:51:09.000 | in science

01:51:09.840 | you

01:51:11.900 | you

01:51:12.400 | you

Control Your Vagus Nerve to Improve Mood, Alertness & Neuroplasticity

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