Control Your Vagus Nerve to Improve Mood, Alertness & Neuroplasticity
In this episode I explain how your vagus nerve—an extensive neural pathway linking your brain and body in both directions—powerfully regulates your mood, digestion, alertness and even certain food cravings, and I explain how you can activate certain vagus nerve pathways to improve your heart rate variability (HRV), a key marker of health and longevity. I also explain how to control vagal pathways to enhance your focus and alertness to improve learning and neuroplasticity. And I explain how your vagus nerve controls levels of serotonin in both your gut and brain, impacting your mood and emotional resilience and how to keep that pathway robust.
Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com.
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Timestamps
00:00:00 Vagus Nerve
00:02:43 Sponsors: LMNT & Joovv
00:05:41 Cranial Nerves, Inputs (Afferents) & Outputs (Efferents), Sensory & Motor
00:12:40 Vagus Nerve & Sensory Pathways, Body & Brain
00:18:30 Sensory Information, Chemical & Mechanical Information
00:23:49 Sympathetic & Parasympathetic Nervous Systems, Vagus Nerve, Tool: Calming & Auricular (Ear) Sensation
00:30:19 Sponsors: AG1 & ROKA
00:33:38 Vagus Nerve Motor Outputs
00:36:00 Autoregulation, Improving Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Tools: HR Deceleration
00:49:46 Aging, Declining HRV, Health, Activity, Tool
00:52:31 Tool: Exercise, Increase Alertness for Cognitive & Physical Activity, Motivation
01:04:26 Sponsor: Function
01:06:14 Adult Neuroplasticity & Learning, Acetylcholine, Alpha GPC Nicotine
01:11:48 Tools: High-Intensity Exercise, Increase Alertness, Focus & Learning; Sleep
01:18:14 Serotonin, Gut, Brain & Mood, Depression & SSRIs
01:21:34 Serotonin, Improve Mood & Gut Health, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Tools: Low-Sugar Fermented Foods, Tryptophan
01:28:49 Mood, Depression, Gut Health & Vagal Signaling, Probiotics
01:32:12 Calming Down via Vagus Nerve, Tool: Neck Peri-Arterial Vagus Stretch
01:42:00 Tools: Calming Down, Humming, Extended Exhales
01:46:38 Recap
01:48:46 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow & Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter
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