Central mechanisms of cranial nerve stimulation for epilepsy

Stimulation of peripheral cranial nerves has been shown to exert anticonvulsant effects in animal models as well as in human patients. Specifically, stimulation of both the trigeminal and vagus nerves has been shown in multiple clinical trials to be anticonvulsant, and stimulation of these nerves at therapeutic levels does not cause pain or negatively affect brain function. However, the neuronal mechanisms by which such stimulation exerts therapeutic effects are not well understood. In this review, the possible locations of action for trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS) and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) are explored. Additionally, the multiple time scales on which TNS and VNS function are discussed.

• Publication year

  2012

• Venue

  Surgical neurology international

• Publication date

  2012-10-31

• Fields of study

  Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.4103/2152-7806.103014PMID 23230529PMCID 3514917
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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