The main belief is that joints such as the knee and ankle joints are not innervated by nerves with a cholinergic function. That includes the assumption that these joints are not innervated by the vagus nerve (van Maanen et al., 2009a, see also Grimsholm et al., 2008). Accordingly, there is actually no morphologic proof of a cholinergic innervation of the knee joint, nor of the ankle joint. Desp...

Convergence of inputs from extrinsic cardiac nerves [vagus and cardiopulmonary (CPN)] on intrinsic cardiac neurons was investigated in the pig ( Sus scrofa). A segment of the right atrial wall containing epicardial neurons along with attached stumps of the right vagus nerve and CPN was maintained in vitro; intracellular recordings were made from 57 neurons. Three types of neuron were identified...

Afferent signaling via the vagus nerve transmits important general visceral information to the central nervous system from many diverse receptors located in the organs of the abdomen and thorax. The vagus nerve communicates information from stimuli such as heart rate, blood pressure, bronchopulmonary irritation, and gastrointestinal distension to the nucleus of solitary tract of the medulla. Th...

The treatment of epilepsy with vagus nerve stimulation can inadvertently cause obstructive and central sleep apnea (CSA). The mechanism for CSA seen in patients with a vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) is not fully known. We describe the case of a 13-year-old girl in whom VNS activation induced tachypnea and post-hyperventilation central apnea. Following adjustment of VNS settings, the post-hyperven...

A patient with epilepsy was shown to have neurobiological, psychological, cognitive, and social issues as a result of recurring seizures, which is regarded to be a chronic brain disease.However, despite numerous drug treatments, approximately, 30–40% of all patients are resistant to antiepileptic drugs. Therefore, newer therapeutic modalities are introduced into clinical practice in which invol...

INTRODUCTION Carotid body tumours are rare but are interesting in their manner of presentation and challenging with respect to surgical extirpation. They may present as a neck mass from which a bloody aspirate is obtained on fine needle aspiration. They are occasionally diagnosed only at the time of surgery, when one encounters the vascular tumour mass. METHODS We reviewed the results of 8 ca...

Introduction: Varicella-zoster virus may cause an infectious disease called Ramsay Hunt syndrome. The related symptoms include facial nerve palsy (FNP), otalgia, the vesicular eruptions of the auricle and external auditory canal, less common ocular movement disorder, facial hypoesthesia, myofascial pain, vestibular symptoms, hearing loss, dysphasia, vocal cord paralysis, as well as tongue paral...

The vagus nerve is a major component of the autonomic nervous system and plays a critical role in many body functions including for example, speech, swallowing, heart rate and respiratory control, gastric secretion, and intestinal motility. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) refers to any technique that stimulates the vagus nerve, with electrical stimulation being the most important. Implantable dev...