Safi Sami, Ellrich Jens, Neuhuber Winfried
Institute of Anatomy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany.
Sapiens Steering Brain Stimulation GmbH, Erlangen, Germany.
Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2016 Sep;299(9):1184-91. doi: 10.1002/ar.23391. Epub 2016 Jul 12.
Transcutaneous stimulation of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (ABVN) resulted in deactivation of temporal lobe structures, similar to invasive cervical vagus nerve (CVN) stimulation. Presumably, both methods stimulated myelinated afferent beta axons mediating anti-convulsive effects. How numbers of A beta axons in the human ABVN compare to those of the CVN is unknown. The ABVN, CVN, recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) and thoracic vagus nerve (TVN) were dissected from embalmed bodies. Numbers and calibers of myelinated axons were analyzed in semithin sections. Myelinated axons in the left and right ABVN averaged to 385 and 363, respectively. Numbers of A beta axons measuring ≥7 µm averaged to 64 and 78 on the left and right, respectively. Numbers of A beta axons in CVN were estimated by subtracting myelinated presumed motor axons in RLN from the total count of CVN. This resulted in 280 and 504 A beta axons on the left and right, respectively, concurring well with the thick myelinated axon count of the ipsilateral TVN (255 and 466, respectively). Thus, the ratio of A beta axons in the ABVN and CVN was ∼1:5 and 1:6 on the left and right side, respectively. These results indicate that transcutaneous ABVN stimulation might be a promising alternative to invasive CVN stimulation. Anat Rec, 299:1184-1191, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
经皮刺激迷走神经耳支（ABVN）可导致颞叶结构失活，这与侵入性颈迷走神经（CVN）刺激相似。据推测，这两种方法均刺激了介导抗惊厥作用的有髓传入β轴突。目前尚不清楚人类ABVN中Aβ轴突的数量与CVN中的数量相比情况如何。从防腐尸体上解剖出ABVN、CVN、喉返神经（RLN）和胸段迷走神经（TVN）。在半薄切片中分析有髓轴突的数量和直径。左右ABVN中有髓轴突的平均数分别为385和363。直径≥7 µm的Aβ轴突数量在左侧和右侧分别平均为64和78。CVN中Aβ轴突的数量通过从CVN的总数中减去RLN中有髓的假定运动轴突来估算。这导致左侧和右侧分别有280和504条Aβ轴突，与同侧TVN的粗有髓轴突数量（分别为255和466）非常吻合。因此，ABVN和CVN中Aβ轴突的比例在左侧和右侧分别约为1:5和1:6。这些结果表明，经皮ABVN刺激可能是侵入性CVN刺激的一种有前景的替代方法。《解剖学记录》，299:1184 - 1191，2016年。© 2016威利期刊公司。
