Psychiatry - Is There a Nerve Connection?

There is a nerve connection called the vagus nerve that comes from the brain, exits the skull. It innervates all kinds of organs in the thorax and abdomen, including the heart, but also the gut. And so that's a very plausible route for information to flow. What now are the clinical implications of this? We see this all the time clinically that there are patients with elevated heart rate and altered mood or anxiety states. These patients are typically treated with conventional anxiety medications that target the brain.