Every breath we take, especially the slow, deep breathing used in meditation, stimulates the vagus nerve to calm the body. Scientists also believe stimulating the nerve with small electrical impulses can have far reaching potential to treat medical conditions including migraines, rheumatoid arthritis and strokes.

Targeting nerves for treatment is a new approach researchers are pursuing largely because drugs haven’t proved effective at treating neurological disorders and have significant side effects, says Michael Kilgard, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Texas at Dallas. By contrast, nerve stimulation can be targeted at specific nerves and at specific times, so side effects are much reduced, he says.

Vagus nerve stimulation, or VNS, has long been approved for use in the U.S. to treat severe and difficult epilepsy cases and treatment-resistant depression. Surgery is required to implant a pacemaker-like device in the body. Another device that blocks signals to the vagus nerve was approved last year to treat obesity, according to a report in today’s Wall Street Journal.

A hand-held VNS device, which avoids the need for surgery, is used in Europe for migraines, and the Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing an application for the product in the U.S.