As a neuroscience undergraduate, I settled into my seat in the lecture hall, ready to learn about the complexities of the brain. Suddenly, the lecturer plugged in his computer and Dion DiMucci’s “The Wanderer” blared through the room. Confused glances were exchanged as the lecturer announced that the day’s topic was the vagus nerve.
After fifty minutes of learning about the nerve’s extensive path through the body and its role in the parasympathetic nervous system, I left the lecture hall with a newfound appreciation for the “wanderer”. Recently, a study by Physiology Associate Professor Rohit Ramchandra and colleagues at the University of Auckland revealed a novel function for the vagus nerve in exercise. Despite being understudied and controversial, the study found that the vagus nerve plays a role in regulating heart rate, respiration, immune responses, and the digestive system during exercise. This discovery challenges the long-held belief that the parasympathetic nervous system is inactive during exercise.
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