Has anybody tried vagus nerve stimulation? I tried it but didn't get anywhere much.
Some kinds of meditation stimulate it. I've tried those.
Where did you hope to get?
The vagus nerve orchestrates the mind-body connection
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Re: The vagus nerve orchestrates the mind-body connection
#12>The vagus nerve orchestrates the mind-body connection
if it does, then the vagus nerve orchestrates the brain-body connection.
the mind-body problem, or if you prefer the mind-brain problem, remains unsolved. and apparently, mind-brain confusion persists as well.
Re: The vagus nerve orchestrates the mind-body connection
#13I have extracted this (and other) nerves from cadavers, and this circuitous cranial nerve (XII?) is as beautiful and complex as the multibranch plexus -es (e.g. brachial ). So delicate. Human anatomy, at first glance, often seems wrongly-engineered. After you've worked inside dozens of people, you begin to realize that everybody is unique — and nobody is "textbook" anatomy. Who knows what all this goop even does?! If…
It’s interesting you mention
“Nobody is textbook anatomy”
I know you’re exaggerating for poetic effect but this might actually be true in some parts of the human anatomy.
For example the description of the anatomy of vessels and anastomoses around the knee…I have had a professor tell me that the standard anatomical descriptions for this might all essentially be fiction. Basically the variation in some of these vessels over there is so high that the standard anatomical textbook description might be wrong.
That being said maybe the professor was wrong. I don’t know. But it was an interesting thing to think about.
Re: The vagus nerve orchestrates the mind-body connection
#14I have extracted this (and other) nerves from cadavers, and this circuitous cranial nerve (XII?) is as beautiful and complex as the multibranch plexus -es (e.g. brachial ). So delicate. Human anatomy, at first glance, often seems wrongly-engineered. After you've worked inside dozens of people, you begin to realize that everybody is unique — and nobody is "textbook" anatomy. Who knows what all this goop even does?! If…
> If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend this humbling human experience.
Not as good as doing your own dissection, but a million times better than an anatomy book is visiting a plastination exhibit:
Re: The vagus nerve orchestrates the mind-body connection
#15Human body is very flawed. Damage to this nerve can result in systemic failure. When are we going to get an update? Evolution, pls fix!1
Maybe we can replace it with a CAN bus. Or PCI express.
Re: The vagus nerve orchestrates the mind-body connection
#16My vagus nerves were constantly being compressed until roughly 4 months ago, when I had bilateral Eagle's syndrome surgeries - Eagle's syndrome a hardening, calcification-ossification of ligaments that connect from the styloid process and wrap around the neck connecting to front of throat; I had played American football for all of high school and most likely the cause from reptitive injuries/trauma to the tissues. We…
Thank you for sharing your story; I'm sorry you are suffering. I'll lead with this quote and ask that you please feel free to ignore the following links:
2020 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24947498 How to deal with extreme physical pain
> I don't want your advice on how to make the pain go away or to deal with it
--
Over the years on HN there have been discussions mentioning the work of two pain specialists focused on the mind-body connection: John Sarno's "Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection" (1991) or "The Mindbody Prescription" (1999) and more recently Bessel van der Kolk's "The Body Keeps the Score" (2015). I don't have enough personal experience to contribute any opinions on these resources, but I wanted to make sure you were able to review the recent discussions at these links, along with more anecdotes of the techniques working for many:
Comments mentioning Sarno (useful for finding similar entire discussions): https://hn.algolia.com?query=%22sarno%22&sort=byDate&type=co...
2024 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40744983#40746172 Walking to combat back pain (Sarno)
2024 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39324820 What is trauma? The author of "The Body Keeps the Score" explains [video] (Kolk)
2022 Alan Gordon's "The Way Out: A Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven Approach to Healing Chronic Pain" per https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38214915#38219120
> a more up to date book with actual science to back up what you described
2017 Sarno documentary trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JVDj2rEOas
2016 counterpoint (but see comments): https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/06/26/book-review-unlearn-yo...
2005 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16483114/ "Debunking myths about trauma and memory" per https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40705079#40717901
Re: The vagus nerve orchestrates the mind-body connection
#17My vagus nerves were constantly being compressed until roughly 4 months ago, when I had bilateral Eagle's syndrome surgeries - Eagle's syndrome a hardening, calcification-ossification of ligaments that connect from the styloid process and wrap around the neck connecting to front of throat; I had played American football for all of high school and most likely the cause from reptitive injuries/trauma to the tissues. We…
I have a story about as long in text but not in duration. Nonetheless, I was unaware of a neck injury for about four years, then I got an MRI. Orthopedist suggested seeing a brain surgeon as soon as possible, and luckily the one I found suggested immediately that surgery for my young age was no option. I ended up getting corrective soles and a mouth guard, and with the mouth guard specifically, I immediately went fro…
Orthodontist or orthopedist?
Re: The vagus nerve orchestrates the mind-body connection
#18I have extracted this (and other) nerves from cadavers, and this circuitous cranial nerve (XII?) is as beautiful and complex as the multibranch plexus -es (e.g. brachial ). So delicate. Human anatomy, at first glance, often seems wrongly-engineered. After you've worked inside dozens of people, you begin to realize that everybody is unique — and nobody is "textbook" anatomy. Who knows what all this goop even does?! If…
Nervus vagus is X - the tenth cranial nerve
Re: The vagus nerve orchestrates the mind-body connection
#19After almost everything else failed I tried VNS for Restless Leg Syndrome. Didn't work either. Really had high hopes for it.
Re: The vagus nerve orchestrates the mind-body connection
#20Human body is very flawed. Damage to this nerve can result in systemic failure. When are we going to get an update? Evolution, pls fix!1
My favorite bugs are the ones that are too low priority to fix, like this one: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex
The exact pathophysiology is still unknown but it’s a variation on “the nose nerves and the optic nerve are too close together”