Vagal tone

Vagal tone is activity of the vagus nerve (the 10th cranial nerve) and a fundamental component of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. This branch of the nervous system is not under conscious control and is largely responsible for the regulation of several body compartments at rest. Vagal activity results in various effects, including: heart rate reduction, vasodilation/constriction of vessels, glandular activity in the heart, lungs, and digestive tract, liver, immune system regulation as well as control of gastrointestinal sensitivity, motility and inflammation.[1]

In this context, tone specifically refers to the continual nature of baseline parasympathetic action that the vagus nerve exerts. While baseline vagal input is constant, the degree of stimulation it exerts is regulated by a balance of inputs from sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system, with parasympathetic activity generally being dominant. Vagal tone is frequently used to assess heart function, and is also useful in assessing emotional regulation and other processes that alter, or are altered by, changes in parasympathetic activity.[2][3]

Measurements of vagal tone can be performed by means of either invasive or noninvasive procedures. Invasive procedures are in the minority and include vagus nerve stimulation by specific manual, breathing or electrical techniques. Noninvasive techniques mainly rely on the investigation of heart rate and heart rate variability.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ Berntson GG, Cacioppo JT, Quigley KS (March 1993). "Respiratory sinus arrhythmia: autonomic origins, physiological mechanisms, and psychophysiological implications". Psychophysiology. 30 (2): 183–96. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1993.tb01731.x. PMID 8434081.
  2. ^ Diamond LM, Fagundes CP, Butterworth MR (2011). "Attachment Style, Vagal Tone, and Empathy During Mother-Adolescent Interactions". Journal of Research on Adolescence. 22 (1): 165–184. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2011.00762.x.
  3. ^ Grossman P, Wilhelm FH, Spoerle M (August 2004). "Respiratory sinus arrhythmia, cardiac vagal control, and daily activity". American Journal of Physiology. Heart and Circulatory Physiology. 287 (2): H728–34. doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00825.2003. PMID 14751862.
  4. ^ Howland RH (June 2014). "Vagus Nerve Stimulation". Current Behavioral Neuroscience Reports. 1 (2): 64–73. doi:10.1007/s40473-014-0010-5. PMC 4017164. PMID 24834378.
  5. ^ Porges SW, Doussard-Roosevelt JA, Maiti AK (2008). "Vagal tone and the physiological regulation of emotion". Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development. 59 (2–3): 167–86. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5834.1994.tb01283.x. PMID 7984159.
  6. ^ Brock C, Jessen N, Brock B, Jakobsen PE, Hansen TK, Rantanen JM, Riahi S, Dimitrova YK, Dons-Jensen A, Aziz Q, Drewes AM, Farmer AD (October 2017). "Cardiac vagal tone, a non-invasive measure of parasympathetic tone, is a clinically relevant tool in Type 1 diabetes mellitus". Diabetic Medicine. 34 (10): 1428–1434. doi:10.1111/dme.13421. PMID 28703868. S2CID 25030686.