In the past year, I have learned about the vagus nerve on
more than one occasion in several of my classes. It has been discussed in
relation to the respiratory system, the cardiac system, and even the nervous
system, so I have come to believe that the vagus nerve is quite important to
our bodies. This nerve helps with our heart rate, breathing, and even
regulating our eating behavior, which are all functions that help the body get
through everyday. I chose this study because the research done by Harvard
Medical School gives insight to how the vagus nerve is involved with our
respiratory system.
Going into the study the researchers understood that the
vagus nerve’s structure was not the same throughout it, so it would not be
possible to stimulate the whole nerve and expect one specific result. They
started out by deconstructing the nerve and screened it for sensory neurons by
looking for the expression of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). From this
they went on to find out that certain GPCRs were found on different groups of
neurons. Bioengineering allowed the scientists to make the GPCRs able to be
manipulated with light to study the different groups of neurons. Two groups of
the neurons stood out that extended to the lungs, one fanned out onto the
airways and the other on in the alveolar space. By activating these specific neurons,
they found that one causes breathing to stop and stay in a state of exhalation.
The other neurons caused shallow and quick breaths that were thought to be a
defense against a lung irritant.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article because not only
did it discuss the results of the study, but it also gave background information
of the topic and provided the methodology. It is fascinating to think that just
one type of neuron could be involved in the different functions of the vagus
nerve. I would have suspected that hundreds of different groups of neurons
would be involved in order to carry out the different processes. Its sounds
like this research could help with many of health problems that people deal
with everyday and I hope to see that this research continues.
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