Polyvagal theory
Stephen Porges’s account of the vagus nerve as the switch between defence and social connection. Widely used in trauma therapy and contested in physiology.
- AS
Arielle Schwartz quoted
Their wordsThe central clinical proposition of polyvagal theory-that autonomic state functions as an organizing platform shaping perception, emotion, and relational behavior-was not empirically disproven in the critique.
- AS
Arielle Schwartz quoted
Their wordsPolyvagal theory provided me with a coherent framework for understanding why cognitive insight alone often fails when a nervous system is in defensive dominance. In such states, higher-order cortical processes are functionally constrained.