The Vagus Nerve is the longest nerve in the body and serves as the communication superhighway between the brain and the major organs. It is responsible for managing all of the body’s automatic functions – including heart rate, breathing, digestion, metabolism, the immune response, as well as regulating neurotransmitters and hormones key to mind-body function. Vagus Nerve stimulation has been shown to reset and balance neural-hormones. “Homeostasis” refers a state of optimal balance.

To learn more, check out this article from the Guardian.

Evidence-based and Tested

See our wellness research

2022 Wellness Study

Advance Therapy Intervention Clinic, Philadelphia, PA

• Participants vybed for 5, 25-minute sessions over a 7 day period.

• Over 90% of subjects continued to report improvements in wellness for two weeks following their 5th session.

• Measurements taken were from clinically validated wellness scales including the WHO-5, the PGWBI, and the PWI.

2022 Heart Rate Variability

Real World Evidence Lake Nona, FL

• Heart Rate Variability is a clinically validated measure of nervous system health

• Using the NeuralChek HRV tool, HRV readings were taken before and after one 25-minute mindvybe session

• Heart Rate Variability (HRV) metrics improved on over 80% of vybers following just one 25-minute session

• Statistical significance is reflected in markers related to homeostatic balance
  

mindvybe’s patented technology leverages cutting-edge scientific discoveries and explorations.

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New Moms

As a 2023 grant awardee from New Jersey’s CSIT Maternal and Infant Health initiative, our Hopewell location is offering mindvybe sessions to women following childbirth. Reach out to us at 609.857.1685 or email us at info@mindvybe.com to learn how you can schedule your vybe sessions.

The Healing Consciousness Foundation in partnership with Redeemer ​Health Systems will be sponsoring a study to explore mindvybe’s ​effect on wellness in breast cancer survivors. Anticipated enrollment ​will begin in Q3 2024. More details are forthcoming. Call us at ​609.857.1685 or email us at info@mindvybe.com to learn more.

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While research is on-going, mindvybe is a general wellness technology and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Photo: Pixabay

Photo: Eric Audrey Getty Images Onoky

Human biology evolved over 6 million years and is optimized for long periods of activity, stretches of starvation, living off the land, contemplating the stars, and setting schedules by sun, moon and seasons. Humans evolved together in close-knit communities in environments of scarcity.

It is only in the blip of the last 50 years that technology has advanced our lifestyles exponentially, certainly improving comfort, productivity and lifespans, but removing us from the environment where our biology has been optimized to thrive.

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Wanna geek out on the science? Keep scrolling...

The Role of Dopamine

Dopamine is getting its fair share of press lately and for good reason. It is often thought of as the ‘pleasure’ chemical, but in fact, dopamine is the arousal chemical. Dopamine is released when a reward, a pleasure, or a new learning is expected. The feelings of alertness, craving, motivation and desire persists until the reward is obtained, in which case, dopamine is diminished -- it is that relief that brings pleasure and satisfaction.

From Giovanni Dienstmann’s “Mindful Self Discipline”

The body is constantly striving for balance or ‘homeostasis’ in its neurochemical environment. When stimulation is ever-constant, dopamine floods the brain. In an effort to maintain balance, dopamine receptors are down-regulated, or desensitized. The ultimate effect is that it takes more and more to make us feel satisfied and less and less to make us feel as if something is missing. Vagus nerve stimulation has been shown to spur the production of neuropeptides essential for restoring dopaminergic function.

Interested in learning more about dopamine? Check out the book Dopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lembke, MD.

What does down-regulated dopamine have to do with health and wellness?

It is not appropriate to reduce health and wellness down to just one neuro-transmitter, such as dopamine. In fact, the body and brain function as an intricate ecosystem, constantly performing a delicate dance in the balancing of the hormones that govern the body and mind. And yet, dopamine is a key player in the body’s stress function. Why? Because when dopamine receptors are desensitized, an individual feels as if they are forever chasing

an elusive reward. Feelings of angst, unsettled-ness, restlessness, and chatter-in-the-head are stressful!

When one encounters stress, cortisol and adrenalin are released into the bloodstream, which in turn, initiates the body’s “fight or flight” response. Various physiological changes take place to deal with the threat, such as increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, heightened alertness and the release of glucose and fatty acids into the bloodstream to fuel muscles. Every fiber in the body screams, “Run away from that saber tooth tiger!” or “Fight that tiger!!” or if caught, “Freeze! Play dead!”

Functions that are essential for immediate survival are prioritized, such as those involved in the stress response itself. In turn, non-urgent systems such as digestion, growth, and reproduction are suppressed.

When the threat passes and the saber tooth tiger runs away (for example) one is no longer in imminent danger, the body then adjusts, re-regulates and the ‘rest, digest and recover’ functions are restored to equilibrium.

Photo: Estt: Getty Images

While saber-tooth tigers no longer roam the earth, humans face modern threats that trigger the ancient "fight, flight, or freeze" response. Constant stress disrupts hormonal balance, impairing body efficiency. Whether one is an elite performer pushing to the next level or one is struggling with trauma or every-day drama, the physiological stress response remains the same.

Contemporary society’s focus on productivity as a measure of overall value, compounded with the over-abundance and over-stimulation of modern living have created an escalating cycle of dopamine down-regulation resulting in states of chronic stress that impact quality of life. Aches and pains, scattered thoughts, chatter-in-the-brain, anxiety, depression, poor sleep, stomach issues and immune-system dysfunction, have all been normalized as ‘just a part of life’. Chronic stress, if left unchecked over time, can lead to sub-optimal aging processes and chronic disease.

The bright brains of evolved humans have created many advancements and conveniences that have increased lifespans more so than ever before. But are we living better?