Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve: Self-Help Exercises for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, and Autism

by Stanley D. Rosenberg

In order to test vagal function, I ask the other person to say, “ah-ah-ah-ah-ah” while I observe the arches on either side of the uvula. These sounds should be percussive and staccato—short, distinct bursts of sound in quick succession, and not a long, drawn-out “aaaaaaaaahhhh,” which does not create the desired effect. If there is good function in the pharyngeal branch of the ventral vagus nerve on both the right and left sides, these muscles tighten symmetrically with a clear impulse when the person makes the sounds “ah-ah-ah-ah-ah,” lifting the arches of the soft palate equally on both sides. If, on the other hand, there is dysfunction of the pharyngeal branch of the ventral branch of the vagus nerve on one side, the nerve impulses do not innervate the levator veli palatini muscle on that side, and the arch in the soft palate on that side does not lift when the person says “ah.”