Von Economo neurons are located at a brain junction that evaluates internal body states and accesses neural circuitries to reduce alertness and stress, thereby increasing parasympathetic activation.

“Well, these von Economo neurons sit at this junction where they're able to evaluate what's going on inside our body and allow us to access neural circuitries by which we can shift our relative level of alertness down a bit, or our relative level of stress down a bit and thereby to increase so-called parasympathetic activation and to literally override some of those spindle mechanisms, even the GTO mechanisms, but especially the spindle mechanisms at the neuromuscular and muscular spinal junction.”