This month’s insomnia episode explores a provocative idea: can certain electronics actually help insomnia rather than harm it? While screens and devices are often blamed for poor sleep, some technologies aim to calm the nervous system, teach self-regulation, or reduce the anxiety that keeps insomnia going. In this episode we will:

• Revisit the parasympathetic nervous system, the vagus nerve, and why the “wandering nerve” has fascinated medicine for centuries
 • Review the data for non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation and devices like Truvaga: what the research shows, what remains unclear, and whether stimulation truly reaches the vagus nerve
 • Undwerstand how implantable vagus nerve stimulators for epilepsy differ from consumer wellness devices, and why that matters for insomnia
 • Introduce the Muse Athena and the shift from passive neuromodulation to learning an active calming skill
 • Unpack what we know so far about the data behind Muse devices and insomnia
 • Consider Pavlok and behavioral technology: reducing anxiety around waking, oversleeping, and morning routines
 • Learn how to think about sleep tech without falling into orthosomnia or gadget-driven sleep anxiety

Produced by: Maeve Winter

Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved

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• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!