The Vagus Nerve

Psychologist Kimberley Wilson and Dr Xand van Tulleken take a journey around the human body, asking what it can tell us about our innate capacity for change. In this episode, Kimberley and Xand are on the trail of the body’s longest cranial nerve – the vagus nerve – a critical highway which unites the body and brain, and a key part of the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for rest and relaxation. They discover why you really are what you eat, find out how vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is being used to treat conditions including epilepsy and depression, and explore the future of bioelectronic medicine. And they answer the question: how much influence do our bodies have over our minds? Producer: Dan Hardoon Executive Producer: Kate Holland A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4

You can listen to The Vagus Nerve online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Vagus Nerve is an episode from Made of Stronger Stuff by BBC.

This episode is 33:54 long.

This episode was published on Mar 24, 2021.

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