Bio, Electro and Mechanical Systems (BEAMS), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Department of Neurology, Institute of Neurosciences (IONS), Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium-Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc, Brussels, Belgium.
J Neural Eng. 2022 Jul 8;19(4). doi: 10.1088/1741-2552/ac7c8f.
The vagus nerve is considered to play a key role in the circadian rhythm. Chronic continuous analysis of the vagus nerve activity could contribute to a better understanding of the role of the vagus nerve in light-dark modulations. This paper presents a continuous analysis of spontaneous vagus nerve activity performed in four rats.We analyzed the vagus electroneurogram (VENG) and electroencephalogram (EEG) over a recording period of 28 d. Spike activity and heart rate estimation were derived from the VENG, and slow-wave activity was derived from the EEG. The presence of repetitive patterns was investigated with periodograms, cosinor fitting, autocorrelation, and statistical tests. The light-dark variations derived from the VENG spikes were compared with EEG slow waves, an established metric in circadian studies.Our results demonstrate that light-dark variations can be detected in long-term vagus nerve activity monitoring. A recording period of about 7 d is required to characterize accurately the VENG light-dark variations.As a major outcome of this study, vagus nerve recordings hold the promise to help understand circadian regulation.
迷走神经被认为在生理节律中发挥着关键作用。对迷走神经活动的慢性持续分析有助于更好地了解迷走神经在光暗调节中的作用。本文介绍了在四只大鼠中进行的迷走神经活动的连续分析。我们对迷走神经电神经图（VENG）和脑电图（EEG）进行了 28 天的记录。从 VENG 中提取出尖峰活动和心率估计，从 EEG 中提取出慢波活动。使用周期图、余弦拟合、自相关和统计检验来研究重复模式的存在。将 VENG 尖峰的光暗变化与 EEG 慢波进行比较，后者是生理节律研究中的一种既定指标。
我们的结果表明，可以在长期迷走神经活动监测中检测到光暗变化。需要大约 7 天的记录时间才能准确地描述 VENG 的光暗变化。作为这项研究的主要结果，迷走神经记录有望帮助我们理解生理节律的调节。
