Published in Science Translational Medicine, the study showed that vagus nerve stimulation in stressed mice with colitis, a form of IBD, reduced inflammation, improved symptoms, and boosted survival rates.

Previous vagus nerve stimulation research in humans suggests the findings go beyond mice.

Existing devices are effective, but lack the necessary precision needed for some applications, such as cochlear implants or vagus nerve stimulators.

But for many, the sympathetic nervous system is out of balance with the parasympathetic nervous system, which, along with the vagus nerve, works to calm the body.

Now, researchers at Harvard Medical School have identified a previously unknown way in which the body counteracts restricted breathing -- a new reflex of the vagus nerve that initiates deep breathing.