Episode Details

Transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulators are often advertised as insomnia therapies, "helping you fall asleep faster" or "helping you sleep through the night. Do they work? In this Insomnia Monday episode of the podcast, we will:

• Introduce vagal nerve stimulators
• Describe the path and role of the vagus nerve
• Understand the role of the parasympathetic nervous system
• Examine the limited research on vagal nerve stimulators and sleep
• Understand the scale of the placebo effect in sleep/insomnia research
• Differentiate a statistically meaningful change in sleep/polysomnographic parameters from a "real world" meaningful change in someone struggling with insomnia
• List the strengths and criticisms of vagal nerve stimulators including study size and study design
• Learn who is the right candidate for vagal nerve stimulators

Produced by: Maeve Winter

Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved

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• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!