Vagus nerve recordings: new opportunities to investigate autonomic function in humans

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Jeanie Park, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-07-09
• Publisher: WILEY
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: Published 2020. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1113/JP280300
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-LONDON
• Volume: 598
• Issue: 17
• Start Page: 3543
• End Page: 3544
• Grant/Funding Information: Supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 HL135183; R61 AT10457; Merit Review Award number I01CX001065 from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Clinical Sciences Research and Development Program.
• Keywords: vagus nerve; Neurosciences; Neurosciences & Neurology; microneurography; Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Physiology; autonomic nervous system

Abstract

In the 1960s, Vallbo and Hagbarth established the microneurography technique in which nerve impulses are recorded directly from a peripheral nerve from conscious humans in real-time (Vallbo, 2018). Microneurography has since had a tremendous impact on the field of integrative neurophysiology, enabling a wide array of studies interrogating the function of sensory afferent nerves, and efferent sympathetic nerves directed to muscle (MSNA) and skin (SSNA). In particular, microneurography of sympathetic nerves has advanced our understanding of the neural control of the circulation in both healthy and diseased populations. It has been used to examine sympathetic nervous system (SNS) regulation by control mechanisms such as baroreflexes, SNS reactivity to stress, the exercise pressor reflex, mechanisms underlying SNS overactivation in chronic disease, prognostic value of MSNA, and sex and race differences in SNS regulation to name a few examples. Importantly, microneurography has added valuable information to clinical trials testing the impact of targeted pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions on SNS function in patient populations.