I see Instagram posts all the time that tell women they are "addicted to dopamine", or that they need a "dopamine detox". It sounds very accusatory. And ads for apps tell us
that our vagus nerve is 'imbalanced' and needs 'rebalancing'. Does it? How does one go about rebalancing a nerve? Can anyone tell me?
Exactly. There's no such thing as 'dopamine addiction'. Given how the brain works, either ALL addictions are dopamine addictions, or none of them are. It's like saying you have a 'fluid' problem if you're an alcoholic. But even vaguer than that.
Annoyingly, the vagus nerve tone is a real thing. The vagus nerve is the main cranial nerve that links all your organs to your brain, and thus is believed to be a source of depression, as it means problems with organs (the digestive system in particular) get relayed to the deep levels of the brain and cause emotional disorders etc.
So altering the tone (activity) of the vagus nerve is a relatively recent therapeutic intervention. If we disrupt/prevent the unpleasant signals from the organs, the brain will be better, and mental health will improve.
But this is still very much in the research stages as a therapy. And even if it weren't, there's no known way to do it with an app, or whatever
That's interesting. Thanks Dean. I was sceptical about claims that twiddling my ears would stimulate the vagus nerve and reduce anxiety, and wondered what mechanism could account for it.
I see Instagram posts all the time that tell women they are "addicted to dopamine", or that they need a "dopamine detox". It sounds very accusatory. And ads for apps tell us
that our vagus nerve is 'imbalanced' and needs 'rebalancing'. Does it? How does one go about rebalancing a nerve? Can anyone tell me?
Exactly. There's no such thing as 'dopamine addiction'. Given how the brain works, either ALL addictions are dopamine addictions, or none of them are. It's like saying you have a 'fluid' problem if you're an alcoholic. But even vaguer than that.
Annoyingly, the vagus nerve tone is a real thing. The vagus nerve is the main cranial nerve that links all your organs to your brain, and thus is believed to be a source of depression, as it means problems with organs (the digestive system in particular) get relayed to the deep levels of the brain and cause emotional disorders etc.
So altering the tone (activity) of the vagus nerve is a relatively recent therapeutic intervention. If we disrupt/prevent the unpleasant signals from the organs, the brain will be better, and mental health will improve.
But this is still very much in the research stages as a therapy. And even if it weren't, there's no known way to do it with an app, or whatever
That's interesting. Thanks Dean. I was sceptical about claims that twiddling my ears would stimulate the vagus nerve and reduce anxiety, and wondered what mechanism could account for it.