Neuronal responses from the ventro-postero-medial (VPM) and reticular (NR) nuclei of cat thalamus to vagal stimulation was recorded during wakefulness (W), slow-wave-sleep (SWS), and paradoxical sleep (PS) using chronically implanted microelectrodes. Cellular firing was facilitated in NR and depressed in VPM when weak, hyponogenic stimuli were delivered to the vagal nerve during W and SWS. High...

Reflex bradycardia was elicited in rabbits via repetitive electrical stimulation of the central end of the sectioned left aortic nerve. Supramaximal stimulation produced a 16.9 plus or minus 1.3% (SE) increase in the R-R interval when vagal and sympathetic efferent pathways were intact. Reducing the stimulation voltage allowed selective stimulation of the myelinated (A) fibers, and polarizing e...

Evidence from studies of experimental animals indicates that electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve alters EEGs under certain stimulus parameters. We report EEG effects of electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve in 9 patients with medically intractable seizures as part of a clinical trial of chronic vagal stimulation for control of epilepsy. The mechanism of action of the vagal antiepilept...

AIM To localize and characterize the response of single accumbal neurons to electrical stimulation of the gastric vagal fibers. METHODS Unitary responses to electrical stimulation of the ventral and dorsal gastric vagal fibers which serve the proximal stomach were recorded extracellularly in the nucleus accumbens in anesthetized cats. RESULTS The evoked units recorded in the nucleus accumbe...

The role of vagal activity, potassium concentration, and temperature in overdrive suppression of ventricular pacemakers, was studied in anesthetized dogs with and without surgical atrioventricular block. The results were as follows. (1) Overdrive of an idioventricular pacemaker during vagal stimulation was followed by a second pause. (2) Hypothermia increased the duration of the vagal and overd...