The brain’s response to a heart attack may worsen recovery

Targeting specific cells in the vagus nerve reduced heart damage in mice

Originally written by Alessio Cozzolino for ScienceNews on January 27, 2026

Nerve pathways linking the heart and brain play a key role in inflammation and the body’s response to cardiac injury. In mice, blocking signals along these nerves and reducing inflammation in connected neurons improved heart function and healing. SectoR_2010/iStock/Getty Images Plus

After a heart attack, the heart “talks” to the brain. And that conversation may make recovery worse.

Shutting down nerve cells that send messages from injured heart cells to the brain boosted the heart’s ability to pump and decreased scarring, experiments in mice show. Targeting inflammation in a part of the nervous system where those “damage” messages wind up also improved heart function and tissue repair, scientists report January 27 in Cell.

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