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vagus

vagus

3 8.9
A nerve in the chest and belly that helps control the heart, lungs, and digestion
  • noun
  • /ˈveɪɡəs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : vago
  • The brain then sends information via the vagus nerve back to the heart to slow the heart down.
  • vagus nerve
  • vagus trunk
  • branch of the vagus

What is the potential for channel rhodopsins or related types of algae engineering to be used to manipulate the vagus?

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Examples

  • During surgery, the cyst was found to extend deeply into the area of the internal jugular vein, carotid artery, and vagus nerve.

    Academic text (2010)
  • And this works because there's a nerve called the vagus nerve, which helps slow the heart rate down.

  • And also when you see another being in pain, your vagus nerve becomes very activated.

  • We have a vagus nerve that goes from our brain stem all the way down to our root.

  • So the vagus nerve has been considered the healing nerve of the body.

  • And when you're stressed, it's the vagus, this nerve that tells your body to calm down.

  • So when you hum, you're sending signals to the vagus nerve and you're calming your body down.

  • But pacing your breathing, just five slow breaths I've done in the operating room will send calming signals up the vagus nerve to your brain.

  • Some time later, a gastroenterologist suggested that Sarah's sick sinus syndrome may have been caused by scarring to her vagus nerve during her childhood surgery.

    Academic text (2015)
  • The brain then sends information via the vagus nerve back to the heart to slow the heart down.

Synonyms

vagus nerve
vsvagus
  • Specialized
2 5.5

A long thin part of the body that sends signals from the brain to the heart, lungs, stomach, and intestines

is the general technical name used in medical contexts rather than other labels
tenth cranial nerve
vsvagus
  • Specialized
7.2

A nerve that helps control heart, breathing, voice, and how the body breaks down food

is the more commonly used English name for the same nerve rather than technical variants
pneumogastric nerve
vsvagus
  • Archaic
7.2

A nerve that connects the brain to the voice box, heart, and stomach

is the modern preferred medical name rather than older terminology
pneumogastric
vsvagus
  • Archaic
9.9

A main nerve that connects the brain to the heart, lungs, and stomach

is the standard clinical term used instead of informal or alternative names
wandering nerve
vsvagus
  • Specialized
7.7

A nerve that sends signals to the heart, lungs, stomach, and throat

is the formal anatomical name used in textbooks rather than casual descriptions
nervus vagus
vsvagus
  • Specialized
8.2

A nerve that helps control the throat, heart, lungs, and stomach

is the English medical name used more commonly outside Latin terminology

Compounds

vagus nerve
  • Specialized
2 5.5

A long thin part of the body that sends signals from the brain to the heart, lungs, stomach, and intestines

nervus vagus
  • Specialized
8.2

A nerve that helps control the throat, heart, lungs, and stomach

Surface Forms

vagus singular
vagi plural

Etymology

The word vagus comes from Latin vagus meaning 'wandering', and it shares the root vag- with English words like vague and vagabond. The nerve is called the vagus because it 'wanders' from the brain down through the chest to the belly, so it helps control many organs like the heart, lungs, and stomach.