Can the Nervous System Be Hacked? New York Times article

[Bob]

Quite an interesting wide ranging discussion in this article re the vagus nerve and inflammation.

Can the Nervous System Be Hacked?
By Michael Behar
New York Times
May 23, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/magazine/can-the-nervous-system-be-hacked.html?_r=1

One morning in May 1998, Kevin Tracey converted a room in his lab at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, N.Y., into a makeshift operating theater and then prepped his patient — a rat — for surgery. A neurosurgeon, and also Feinstein Institute’s president, Tracey had spent more than a decade searching for a link between nerves and the immune system. His work led him to hypothesize that stimulating the vagus nerve with electricity would alleviate harmful inflammation. “The vagus nerve is behind the artery where you feel your pulse,” he told me recently, pressing his right index finger to his neck.

 

[Bob]

On a slightly different but related subject, this article has some interesting discussions in relation to the human microbiome and various diseases, and also mentions the vagus nerve.

Bioengineer is working to make E. coli fight obesity, depression
Deborah Netburn
LA Times
May 23rd 2014
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-sci-microbiome-navy-20140524-story.html#page=1

There is something that researchers are calling the gut-brain axis. We think this happens via the vagus nerve, which connects your intestine to your brain.

A recent study shows that the microbes inside your large intestine are sending signals to your brain, which affects anxiety and related behaviors. The researchers did an experiment with mice where they removed the vagus nerve, and the gut microbiome no longer affected the brain.

We've recently done a lot of mapping to figure out which microbes are where, and how sick people with different diseases have different microbes in different locations. It is looking more and more that our microbes not only play lots of essential roles in the metabolism and immune function in healthy people, but they can also be the origin of diseases. So if there is a disruption in some of these microbial communities, it can lead to a wide range of diseases, just like if you have a genetic mutation in your liver or heart.

 

[Sushi]

Quite an interesting wide ranging discussion in this article re the vagus nerve and inflammation.
Can the Nervous System Be Hacked?
By Michael Behar
New York Times
May 23, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/magazine/can-the-nervous-system-be-hacked.html?_r=1

Vagus nerve stimulators have been used for a while in patients with Gastroparesis. I've heard, anecdotally, of some who benefitted a great deal, and some who didn't. One doctor was using a trial stimulator (wires coming out the mouth!) to try it on patients before doing surgical implantation.

Sushi