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Have you ever been in a situation where you feel uncertain or in danger but you’re not sure why? You may look around and see no one else is bothered, but something still feels off to you.
You may not realize it, but you are walking around the world each day reading thousands of social cues in your environment. In our interactions with others, we pick upfacial expressions, tones of voice,bodily movement, and more. We are constantly observing and interacting with the world and others as part of the human experience.
As we have these interactions with others, oursense of selfis being shaped. We learn who we can trust and who feels dangerous to us. Our bodies are processing this type of information constantly through these interactions with the world.
Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin
The Body’s Surveillance System
Our nervous system is a complex structure that gathers information from all over our body and coordinates activity. There are two main parts of the nervous system: the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.
Central Nervous System
The central nervous system consists of two structures:
Peripheral Nervous System
The peripheral nervous system consists of all of the nerves outside of our brain and spinal cord. It can be categorized into two distinct systems:
Reading Danger Cues
Our autonomic nervous system is complex and always busy. In addition to running important functions in our bodies, our autonomic nervous system is also helping us to scan, interpret, and respond to danger cues.
There are two separate systems at work within our autonomic nervous system that help us read and respond to danger cues:
How Does the Nervous System Work With the Endocrine System?
The Vagus Nerve
One nerve is of particular interest to Dr. Stephen Porges, Ph.D. Dr. Porges is a distinguished university lecturer, scientist, and developer of what is referred to as The Polyvagal Theory. The vagus nerve is the tenth cranial nerve, a very long and wandering nerve that begins at the medulla oblongata, a part of the brain located in the lower part of the brain just above where the brain connects with our spinal cord.
There are two sides to this vagus nerve, the dorsal (back) and the ventral (front). From there, the two sides of the vagus nerve run down throughout our body. They are considered to have the widest distribution of nerves within the human body.
Scanning our Environment
From the time we are born, we are intuitively scanning our environment for cues of safety and danger.
We are wired for connection and, in order to help us survive, our bodies are designed and prepared for observing, processing, and responding to our environment.
Neuroception
In polyvagal theory, Dr. Porges describes the process in which our neural circuits read cues of danger in our environment as neuroception. Through this process of neuroception, we are experiencing the world in a way in which we are involuntarily scanning situations and people to determine if they are safe or dangerous.
As part of our autonomic nervous system, this process is happening without us being aware of it. Just as we are able to breathe without having to intentionally tell ourselves to take a breath, we are able to scan our environment for cues without telling ourselves to do so.
The vagus nerve is of particular interest during this process of neuroception. In the process of neuroception, both sides of our vagus nerve can be stimulated. Each side (ventral and dorsal) has been found to respond in distinct ways as we scan and process information from our environment and social interactions.
The ventral side of the vagus nerve responds to cues of safety in our environment and interactions. It supports feelings of physical safety and safe emotional connection to others in our social environment.
The dorsal side of the vagus nerve responds to cues of danger. It pulls us away from connection, out of awareness, and into a state of self-protection. In moments when we might experience a cue of extreme danger, we can shut down and feel frozen, an indication that our dorsal vagal nerve has taken over.
Three Developmental Stages of Response
Within his polyvagal theory, Porges describes the three evolutionary stages involved in the development of our autonomic nervous system. Rather than simply suggesting that there is a balance between our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, Porges describes a hierarchy of responses built into our autonomic nervous system.
The Response Hierarchy in Daily Life
As we go through life engaging with the world, there are inevitably moments when we will feel safe and others when we will feel discomfort or danger. Polyvagal theory suggests this space is fluid and we can move in and out of these different places within the hierarchy of responses easily.
For example, we might experience social engagement in the embrace of a safe loved one and, within the same day, find ourselves in mobilization as we are confronted with danger such as a rabid dog, a robbery, or an intense conflict with a coworker.
There are also may be times when we read and respond to a danger cue in a way that leaves us feeling trapped and unable to get out of the situation. In those moments, our body is responding to increased feelings of anger anddistress, moving into a more primal space of immobilization. Our dorsal vagus nerve is impacted and locks us down into a place of freezing, feeling numb, and, as some researchers believe, dissociating.
Danger cues can become overwhelming in these moments and we see no viable way out. An example of this could be moments of sexual or physical abuse.
Impact of Trauma
When someone has experienced trauma, particularly in experiences where they were left immobilized, their ability to scan their environment for danger cues can become skewed. Of course, our body’s goal is to prevent a terrifying moment like it again, so it will do whatever it needs to to protect us.
As our surveillance system kicks into overdrive, it can also incorrectly read cues in our environment as dangerous.
When our body picks up a cue within an interaction that signals we may not be safe, it begins to respond. For most, this cue moves them into a place of a mobilization response, springing into action to neutralize or escape the threat.
For those who have experienced trauma, a danger cue can move them directly to immobilization. As they come to associate numerous interpersonal cues as dangerous, such as a slight change of facial expression, a particular tone of voice, or certain types of body posturing, they may find themselves responding in a way that is familiar to them in an effort to prepare and protect themselves.
What Is Trauma?
Recap
As humans, we are constantly scanning the environment around us for safety and danger. And, according to polyvagal theory, the way our nervous system perceives threats impacts how our brain and body will respond to the situation.
If you feel like you are experiencing excess immobilization, or are seeing danger cues more often than you should, it may be helpful to work on exercises to calm the vagus nerve. Ways to calm the vagus nerve are mostly physical, including meditation, exercise, and breathing exercises. Psychotherapy may also be helpful, especially if your “fight-or-flight” response may be overactive due to past trauma.
I Tried It: Vagus Nerve Exercises
SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Dana, D.A beginner’s guide to polyvagal theory. 2018.Porges, S. Neuroception: A subconscious system for detecting threats and safety. 2019.
Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Dana, D.A beginner’s guide to polyvagal theory. 2018.Porges, S. Neuroception: A subconscious system for detecting threats and safety. 2019.
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Dana, D.A beginner’s guide to polyvagal theory. 2018.Porges, S. Neuroception: A subconscious system for detecting threats and safety. 2019.
Dana, D.A beginner’s guide to polyvagal theory. 2018.
Porges, S. Neuroception: A subconscious system for detecting threats and safety. 2019.
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