Quote · Huberman Lab
Essentials: The Science & Process of Healing from Grief
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Vagal Tone, Emotional Disclosure & Bereavement Writing Study
At 28:15 · chapter starts 24:48
Huberman introduces what he calls a 'negative result that contains a more interesting finding.' The study, published in Biological Psychology under the title 'Emotional Disclosure for Whom? A Study of Vagal Tone in Bereavement,' tested whether writing about a deceased loved one — recalling memories, expressing deep emotions, even writing letters to the deceased — would help bereaved individuals process their loss more adaptively. [1] — Andrew Huberman "A study in Biological Psychology tested whether writing about a lost loved one would help bereaved individuals heal — and found no overall …" 24:40 The initial finding was null: no overall difference between the emotional disclosure group and a control group that simply wrote about how they spent their time. But when researchers stratified by vagal tone — a measure of how well individuals can modulate heart rate through breathing, specifically on exhale — a clear pattern emerged. Those with high vagal tone, meaning their heart rate changed meaningfully with their breath, benefited substantially from the writing exercise. Those with low vagal tone did not. The implication is profound: the capacity to physically feel the attachment — to let grief land in the body through the autonomic nervous system — is the mechanism by which grief work actually works. The exercise is not the intervention; the somatic access is.
A study published in Biological Psychology found that only participants with high vagal tone — better heart rate modulation via breathing — significantly benefited from emotional disclosure writing exercises during bereavement.
People with complicated grief show significantly elevated cortisol at 4 PM and 9 PM compared to non-complicated grievers. A healthy diurnal cortisol curve — high in the morning, very low by evening — is both a marker and a facilitator of adaptive grief. Morning sunlight is the single most powerful lever to pull.
