The Tiny Implant Replacing Life-Changing Drugs | Biohacking Tools : 1365
The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance
Dave Asprey
4.6 • 7.3K Ratings
🗓️ 18 November 2025
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Bioelectronic medicine is changing how we treat inflammation, autoimmunity, and chronic disease, and this episode shows you exactly how nerve stimulation could redefine human performance, longevity, and brain optimization. You will learn how electricity, neurotransmitters, and targeted neural pathways can replace drugs, control inflammation, and help you hack the vagus nerve with precision instead of guesswork.
Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience:
https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR
Host Dave Asprey is joined by Kevin J. Tracey, MD, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health, pioneer of vagus nerve research, and author of The Great Nerve. He is one of the world’s most cited scientists in inflammation and neuroscience, and his discoveries created the field now known as bioelectronic medicine. He identified the therapeutic action of anti TNF antibodies, mapped the inflammatory reflex, and revealed how vagus nerve signaling controls immunity. With more than 450 scientific publications and over 120 U.S. patents, he is a trusted authority whose work drives the future of anti-aging, functional medicine, metabolism, and neural therapies.
Dr. Tracey and Host Dave Asprey explore how the vagus nerve truly operates, why it contains 200,000 fibers with different functions, and what happens when you stimulate specific pathways that regulate inflammation, HRV, neurotransmitters, and immune signaling. You will learn how nerve impulses transmit information, how voltage gated ion channels shape behavior and biology, and why certain forms of stimulation create measurable improvements in mitochondria, metabolic control, sleep optimization, and emotional regulation.
They break down the science behind surgical vagus nerve implants, focused ultrasound, gamma entrainment, cytokine control, and real neuromodulation. They also explore why cold plunging, breath work, HRV training, nootropics, and consumer devices vary so widely in their effects, and how to evaluate these tools with practical biohacking frameworks. You will hear what actually works, what remains experimental, and what the next decade of nerve based therapies could unlock for brain optimization, longevity, ketosis, fasting, supplements, and AI guided interventions in human biology.
You’ll Learn:
• How vagus nerve stimulation reduces inflammation through the inflammatory reflex
• Why bioelectronic medicine can replace drugs in autoimmune conditions
• How nerve fibers relay electrical and chemical signals inside the body
• Why cold immersion, breath work, and HRV training activate specific vagal pathways
• How 40 hertz gamma entrainment may influence cognitive decline
• Which stimulation methods have clinical validation and which do not
• Why high vagal tone is linked to better metabolism, immunity, and emotional stability
• What future nerve based technologies may unlock for human performance
Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade brings you the knowledge to take control of your biology, extend your longevity, and optimize every system in your body and mind. Each episode delivers cutting-edge insights in health, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, biohacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living.
New episodes are released every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (BONUS). Dave asks the questions no one else will and gives you real tools to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient.
Keywords: Kevin J. Tracey, vagus nerve stimulation, bioelectronic medicine, inflammatory reflex, SetPoint Medical, cytokine control, neuromodulation therapy, autonomic nervous system, HRV optimization, inflammation reduction, rheumatoid arthritis treatment, focused ultrasound therapy, gamma entrainment, mitochondrial signaling, anti-aging science, neural pathway hacking, functional medicine research, immune system regulation, brain and body performance, human longevity science
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Resources:
• Learn More About Kevin’s Work: https://feinstein.northwell.edu/institutes-researchers/our-researchers/kevin-j-tracey-md
• Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/discount/dave15
• My Daily Supplements: SuppGrade Labs (15% Off)
• Favorite Blue Light Blocking Glasses: TrueDark (15% Off)
• Dave Asprey’s BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com
• Dave Asprey’s New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated
• Upgrade Collective: https://www.ourupgradecollective.com
• Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com
• 40 Years of Zen: https://40yearsofzen.com
Timestamps:
0:00 - Trailer
1:12 - Bioelectronic Medicine
3:23 - FDA Approval
6:48 - RA Treatment Explained
11:35 - Vagus Nerve Function
15:12 - External vs Implanted Stimulation
18:06 - Focused Ultrasound
26:11 - Ear Stimulation Science
30:51 - Clinical Evidence
37:10 - Alzheimer’s Link
42:15 - Future Applications
46:48 - Cold Exposure Effects
53:51 - Common Misconceptions
55:38 - Final Thoughts
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | When we look at the vagus nerve, there are 100,000 fibers on each side. There's controversy about how it actually works. |
| 0:07.3 | We have a positive clinical trial where the patients in the U.S. studied at 40 centers, 242 patients, had significant benefit by having a vagus nerve stimulator, the size of a multivitamin, implanted in their neck at about the |
| 0:22.8 | level of their atoms apple. So once it's implanted, it's gone. It's invisible to the outside world. |
| 0:28.0 | And then they try them and go, oh my God, life changing. It's been done since the late 1980s |
| 0:32.6 | to treat epilepsy and depression, and I estimate more than a million people have had successful |
| 0:36.9 | vagus nerve surgery |
| 0:37.8 | without immunosuppression, without suffocating side effects. You can reduce inflammation markers |
| 0:42.8 | in some patients. You can change heart rate variability in some patients. You can improve quality |
| 0:47.8 | of life measures in some patients. This could actually be in new therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. |
| 0:54.5 | You're listening to The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey. |
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