The Vagus Nerve

How Does Vagus Nerve Stimulation Work?

It turns out that vagus nerve stimulation can work as a treatment of epilepsy when chemical and surgical techniques have proven unsuccessful. Vagus nerve stimulation means stimulating the afferent pathways of the brain. See the “what is the vagus nerve section for a description of pathways into the brain. The goal is to change signaling in the brain, not signaling to the body. An epileptic seizure is characterized by a lot of synchronous firing of the neurons of the cerebral cortex. Because only one of the two vagus nerves entering the brain is stimulated, vagus nerve stimulation sends an asynchronous signal to the brain, preventing further seizure, or preventing it from starting.

Subsections:

What are cranial nerves?

What is the vagus nerve?

What is vagus nerve stimulation?

How does vagus nerve stimulation work? (top of this page)