Abstract
Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an established form of neuromodulation with a long history of promising applications. Earliest reports of VNS in the literature date to the late 1800’s in experiments conducted by Dr. James Corning. Over the past century, both invasive and non-invasive VNS have demonstrated promise in treating a variety of disorders, including epilepsy, depression, and post-stroke motor rehabilitation. As VNS continues to rapidly grow in popularity and application, the field generally lacks a consensus on optimum stimulation parameters. Stimulation parameters have a significant impact on the efficacy of neuromodulation, and here we will describe the longitudinal evolution of VNS parameters in the following categorical progression: (1) animal models, (2) epilepsy, (3) treatment resistant depression, (4) neuroplasticity and rehabilitation, and (5) transcutaneous auricular VNS (taVNS). We additionally offer a historical perspective of the various applications and summarize the range and most commonly used parameters in over 130 implanted and non-invasive VNS studies over five applications.
Highlights
The earliest description of electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve began in the 1880’s in New York
Stimulation parameters have a significant impact on the efficacy of neuromodulation, and here we will describe the longitudinal evolution of Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) parameters in the following categorical progression: (1) animal models, (2) epilepsy, (3) treatment resistant depression, (4) neuroplasticity and rehabilitation, and (5) transcutaneous auricular VNS
Stimulation parameters have a significant bearing on the efficacy of neuromodulation, and here we will describe the longitudinal evolution of VNS parameters in the following categorical progression: (1) animal models, (2) epilepsy, (3) treatment resistant depression, (4) neuroplasticity and rehabilitation, and (5) auricular VNS
Summary
The earliest description of electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve began in the 1880’s in New York. Dr James Corning applied an electric current as an adjunct to his carotid compression fork; other adjuncts included a neck belt and a lower body vacuum chamber His cases were anecdotal with limited records of the parameters used. A patient receiving daily VNS for 6 months has a duration of 6 months It is an imprecise measure of dosage because it does not convey how much stimulation is in that time. The significance of duration is that it considers the effect of cumulative dosage While many of these parameters have very standard definitions, some of them do not; terms like “duration” are inconsistent across papers to refer to different scales of time.
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