8/20: Understanding our Vagus Nerve – with Karen Vaughan

The vagus nerve is arguably the most important of the cranial nerves as it dips deep into the torso and controls the heart, liver, gut and other parts of the visceral body.  As well as controlling fight, flight and playing dead, due to its significant control over the autonomic nervous system, the vagus nerve affects sociability and emotions.  It even provides a scaffold for alpha synuclein to misfold, eventually controlling Parkinson’s disease… We will learn about the nerve and how it works, why dietary factors affect both the physical body and the emotions, about the gut/brain axis, why emotions and other memories turn into physical peptides to be stored on the brain, and how to tune up your vagus nerve. Finally, we will discuss the influence of herbs and the vagus system.