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Review
. 2022 Jun 16:16:897303.
doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.897303. eCollection 2022.

"The Wandering Nerve Linking Heart and Mind" - The Complementary Role of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Modulating Neuro-Cardiovascular and Cognitive Performance

Helena Dolphin  1   2 , Tim Dukelow  1 , Ciaran Finucane  3 , Sean Commins  4 , Paul McElwaine  1   2 , Sean P Kennelly  1   2
Affiliations
Review

"The Wandering Nerve Linking Heart and Mind" - The Complementary Role of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Modulating Neuro-Cardiovascular and Cognitive Performance

Helena Dolphin et al. Front Neurosci. .

Abstract

The vagus nerve is the longest nerve in the human body, providing afferent information about visceral sensation, integrity and somatic sensations to the CNS via brainstem nuclei to subcortical and cortical structures. Its efferent arm influences GI motility and secretion, cardiac ionotropy, chonotropy and heart rate variability, blood pressure responses, bronchoconstriction and modulates gag and cough responses via palatine and pharyngeal innervation. Vagus nerve stimulation has been utilized as a successful treatment for intractable epilepsy and treatment-resistant depression, and new non-invasive transcutaneous (t-VNS) devices offer equivalent therapeutic potential as invasive devices without the surgical risks. t-VNS offers exciting potential as a therapeutic intervention in cognitive decline and aging populations, classically affected by reduced cerebral perfusion by modulating both limbic and frontal cortical structures, regulating cerebral perfusion and improving parasympathetic modulation of the cardiovascular system. In this narrative review we summarize the research to date investigating the cognitive effects of VNS therapy, and its effects on neurocardiovascular stability.

Keywords: LC-NE system; cerebral blood flow; cognition; executive function; inhibitory control; neurocardiovascular control; vagus nerve stimulation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Schematic representation of afferent and efferent fibers of the vagus nerve and central projections.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Schematic diagram of innervation of ABVN and central projections, adapted with permission from Kaniusas et al. (2019).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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