How a Soundbath can Support your Vagus Nerve
There are 12 cranial nerves in the body. They come in pairs and help link the brain with other areas of the body, such as the head, neck, and torso.
Some send sensory information, including details about smells, sights, tastes, and sounds, to the brain. These nerves have sensory functions. Other cranial nerves control the movement of various muscles and the function of certain glands. These are known as motor functions.
While some cranial nerves have either sensory or motor functions, others have both. The vagus nerve is such a nerve. The cranial nerves are classified using Roman numerals based on their location. The vagus nerve is also called cranial nerve X.
THE VAGUS NERVE LOVES SOUND
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The vagus nerve is your body's longest cranial nerve. It originates at the base of your brain and extends through the neck and chest to the abdomen.
This nerve plays a vital role in many of the body's functions, including:
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Heart rate
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Blood pressure
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Digestion
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Immune response
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Inflammation
The vagus nerve is also responsible for controlling the "rest and digest" response, which is essential for relaxation and stress relief. When the vagus nerve is functioning correctly, it helps to keep the body in a state of balance. Unfortunately, when it is not functioning optimally, it can lead to several health problems, including:
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Anxiety
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Depression
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Digestive issues
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Heart disease
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Inflammatory disorders
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Migraines
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Vagus nerve anatomy and function
The word “vagus” means wandering in Latin. This is a very appropriate name, as the vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve. It runs from the brain stem to part of the colon.
The vagus nerve sensory functions are divided into two components:
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Somatic components. These are sensations felt on the skin or in the muscles.
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Visceral components. These are sensations felt in the organs of the body.
Sensory functions of the vagus nerve include:
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providing somatic sensation information for the skin behind the ear, the external part of the ear canal, and certain parts of the throat
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supplying visceral sensation information for the larynx, esophagus, lungs, trachea, heart, and most of the digestive tract
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playing a small role in the sensation of taste near the root of the tongue
Motor functions of the vagus nerve include:
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stimulating muscles in the pharynx, larynx, and the soft palate, which is the fleshy area near the back of the roof of the mouth
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stimulating muscles in the heart, where it helps to lower resting heart rate
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stimulating involuntary contractions in the digestive tract, including the esophagus, stomach, and most of the intestines, which allow food to move through the tract
HOW TO STIMULATE AND STRENGTHEN
Luckily, there are many ways to stimulate and strengthen this nerve, which in turn, can improve a number of these conditions for some people. So with that in mind, let's move on to vagus nerve sound stimulation and what it might be able to do for you.
A fascinating fact about hearing is the association of the ear to the pneumogastric, or tenth, cranial nerve, a.k.a. the vagus nerve because it wanders through the thoracic and abdominal cavities. It regulates the functions of many major organs, among them lungs, heart, stomach, kidneys and the liver.
Originating in the brain, it attaches to the inner and outer eardrum, the conveyors of vibrations generated by sound in the ear, and ends all the way down by the anus. As a result, sound is not just vibrating the eardrum but with the help of the vagus nerve it resonates and vibrates, or “massages”, the entire being on a cellular level.
The relevance of the vagus nerve in sound-based therapies
The ear and hearing have a substantial effect on the rest of the body because of their proximity to the vagus nerve.
The vagus nerve, or tenth cranial nerve does not play an active part in the process of hearing,therefore it is not normally taken into big consideration in things that relate to music, hearing and the like outside of the medical field. However, this incredibly important nerve is connected with the posterior wall of the external auditory canal, the lower part of the eardrum’s membrane and in the middle ear: the stapedius (stirrup)muscle. From these parts of the ear, it makes its way all the way down to the lower internal organs and is responsible for a high number of regulatory functions in pharynx, larynx, thorax and abdomen.
Basically,stimulating the ear means stimulating all the vital vegetative internal organs.
This makes the ear a parasympathetic regulatory organ that uses innervation of the vagus nerve to affect the whole body.
The vibrations of sound tend to have a very significant impact on all the areas of the body reached by this nerve by resonating very close to it in the eardrums. In addition to that, the majority of cranial nerves are either directly or indirectly connected with the ear.
This is one of the reasons why the use of Sound Therapy instruments such as tuning forks and Tibetan singing bowls can be so instantly calming and relaxing, helping the body to come back to the nourishing state that is the opposite of the "fight or flight" mode triggered by stress. In fact, long and sustained sounds tend to be soothing and relaxing (parasympathetic response) whereas sharp and abrupt sounds tend to trigger alertness and alarm (sympathetic response).
Limbic System
Another interesting factor is that auditory stimulation of the vagus nerve can lead to reduced activity of the limbic system. The limbic system,located on both sides of the thalamus, includes the hypothalamus, the hippocampus, the amygdala, and a number of other nearby areas. It is considered to be primarily responsible for our emotional life and has a lot to do with the formation of memories.
A simple practice of toning (producing long vocal sounds, usually vowels, or humming) can have tangible calming effects by virtue of its auditory stimulation of the vagus nerve, which in turn causes limbic deactivation. This is very similar to certain therapies that use electrical devices to stimulate the vagus nerve artificially.With your own voice, you can do the same in a completely organic way!
Listening to life
The auditory system and its nerves become completely functional while still in utero. The acoustic nerve is said to start myelinise during the sixth month, whereas the neo-cortex only completes myelination around adolescence. Myeline is an essential component of the nerve fibers. It is a coating substance that isolates the nerves and enhances the transmission of electrical signals.
Also,the area in the temporal lobe of the brain where sound signals are received is functional before birth. And the inner ear reaches its full adult size. That makes sense because while we are still in utero, we cannot rely on our sense of sight, but we can start receiving vitalising signals from the environment via the ideal medium of water in which sound travels very effectively.
Other important nerves to consider as relevant when working with sound in a therapeutic way:
the trigeminal nerve (fifth cranial), branching out to the muscles in the middle ear, impacting the eyes, nose, sinus, jaw, teeth, lips,cheeks, hard palate, tongue and it is responsible for sensations in the head.
The facial nerve (seventh cranial), connected to the ear canal and responsible for facial expression and the opening of the mouth.
The glossopharyngeal nerve (ninth cranial) connected to the eustachian tube and the tympanic cavity and also responsible for sensations in the pharynx, soft palate, tongue, tonsils and the control of the reflexes of respiration and blood pressure and heart rate.
Our brain seems to be wired in such a way as to bestow a particular importance on sound!