Why do some skills come almost instantly, while others require long and grueling practice? Researchers at Tohoku University in Japan sought to answer this question. They found that the vagus nerve, which connects internal organs to the brain, plays a key role in consolidating motor skills, according to infohub.kz.
The study was led by Professor Ko Matsui, with Junya Chen as lead author. The results were published in the journal iScience and reported by ScienceDaily.
In experiments on mice, the scientists applied vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) via a cuff electrode after sessions of optokinetic reflex training. They observed that stimulation did not improve performance during the exercises themselves, but the next day the animals showed significantly higher levels of long-term learning and memory consolidation.
Fiber photometry measurements in the cerebellar flocculus revealed that the procedure triggers a biphasic vascular response and rhythmic fluctuations in blood volume. The more pronounced these rhythms were, the better the mice performed on tasks by the fifth day.
The discovery proves that tuning the metabolic environment and vascular responses of the brain through body signals allows for more effective consolidation of acquired experience.