Electrical stimulation of an epibranchial vagal ganglion, which innervates the gill region, had a marked influence on the respiratory rhythm of the carp Cyprinus carpio. Vagal input could initiate ventilation in fish displaying intermittent respiration. In fish breathing steadily, vagal stimuli could reset the respiratory rhythm by modifying the existing breathing cycle. An increase of stimulus...

1. Gastric motility and neurotransmitter release in response to vagal stimulation were studied using a vascularly isolated perfused rat stomach. Gastric motor responses were recorded by a strain gauge force transducer implanted on the proximal stomach. 2. Electrical stimulation of vagal trunk (0.5-20 Hz) produced a triphasic response which was composed of a rapid transient relaxation (first pha...

We studied the time-dependent changes in the response of heart rate (sinus cycle length) to 30-second trains of vagal stimulation (8 Hz), repeated every 2 minutes, in canine neonates aged 7.1 +/- 2.5 (mean +/- SD) days. The first vagal train prolonged the sinus cycle length by 58 +/- 35%, but the response was attenuated during subsequent trains (98 +/- 5% inhibition of the vagal response after ...

Neuropeptide Y and norepinephrine are localized in sympathetic nerve terminals throughout the heart. We sought to determine the functional distribution of the neuropeptide Y-containing sympathetic fibers to the sinus and atrioventricular (AV) nodal regions. We recorded cycle length, AV interval, and arterial pressure in 14 anesthetized dogs. We assessed the release of neuropeptide Y from sympat...

OEË " c • ¸ • E " ¡OE´OE³ Žn • E " ‡–{ • ô˜N It is generally believed that the cardiac fibers of the right vagus nerve terminate , in large part, near the sinoatrial node and some fibers distribute widely in the atria , and that most of the cardiac fibers of the left vagus supply the atrioventricular node and bundles. On the other hand, there are opposite conclusions regarding the existence of ...

Patients affected by inborn errors of metabolism can develop catastrophic epilepsies ineligible for resective surgery. Few reports concerning vagal nerve stimulation in patients with epileptic encephalopathy in the context of metabolic diseases have been published in the literature. Drug-resistant epilepsies in metabolic disease could be a specific target for vagal nerve stimulation, although t...

Vagal nerve stimulation in cardiac therapy involves delivering electrical current to the vagal sympathetic complex in patients experiencing heart failure. The therapy has shown promise but the mechanisms by which any benefit accrues is not understood. In this paper we model the response to increased levels of stimulation of individual components of the vagal sympathetic complex as a differentia...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary vein (PV) -encircling radiofrequency ablation frequently is effective in vagal atrial fibrillation (AF), and there is evidence that PVs may be particularly prone to cholinergically induced arrhythmia mechanisms. However, PV ablation procedures also can affect intracardiac autonomic ganglia. The present study examined the relative role of PVs versus peri-PV autonomic ganglia...

The role of the vagus in the control of coronary blood flow was studied in chloralose-anesthetized dogs with open chests. Propranolol, 1.0 mg/kg iv, was used for beta-receptor blockade. Heart rate was maintained at a constant level with atrial and ventricular pacing. Left circumflex coronary artery blood flow was measured with an electromagnetic flowmeter. The experimental design accounted for ...

Vagal nerve stimulation is approved for medically refractory partial epilepsy in children older than 12 years of age. However, it has been shown in the literature that vagal nerve stimulation is also quite efficacious in children younger than 12 with generalized epilepsy and brain malformations. We report a case series of children younger than 12 who responded well to vagal nerve stimulation. A...