Creativity is one of the most important cognitive skills in our complex and fast-changing world. Previous correlative evidence showed that gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is involved in divergent but not convergent thinking. In the current study, a placebo/sham-controlled, randomized between-group design was used to test a causal relation between vagus nerve and creativity. We employed transcuta...

Dysphagia secondary to peripheral cranial nerve injury originates from weak and uncoordinated contraction-relaxation of cricopharyngeal muscle. We report on two patients who suffered vagus nerve injury during surgery and showed sudden dysphagia by opening dysfunction of upper esophageal sphincter (UES). Videofluoroscopy-guided balloon dilatation of UES was performed. We confirmed an early impro...

BACKGROUND Recently, vagus nerve preservation or reconstruction of vagus has received increasing attention. The present study aimed to investigate the feasibility of reconstructing the severed vagal trunk using an autologous sural nerve graft. METHODS Ten adult Beagle dogs were randomly assigned to two groups of five, the nerve grafting group (TG) and the vagal resection group (VG). The gastr...

BACKGROUND The elucidation of the relationship between the morphology of the peripheral nerves and the diseases would be valuable in developing new medical treatments on the assumption that characteristics of the peripheral nerves in females are different from those in males. METHODS We used 13 kinds of the peripheral nerve. The materials were obtained from 10 Japanese female and male cadaver...

PURPOSE In treating schwannoma patients, it is critical to determine the origin of the tumor to preserve nerve function. We evaluated the validity of preoperative imaging studies in distinguishing the neurological origin of the schwannomas of the head and neck, and the efficacy of intracapsular enucleation in preserving nerve function. MATERIALS AND METHODS In 7 cases of schwannomas in the he...

The baroreceptor fibers which arise from the aortic arch course centrally within the vagus nerve in the dog, and they usually follow this path in the cat. Near the origin of the superior laryngeal nerve, a separate branch of the cervical vagus (the cervical aortic nerve) arises. Previously, it was thought that this nerve contained all the important baroreceptor afferents. Aortic baroreceptor fi...