Skip to main content
Fig. 2 | The Journal of Headache and Pain

Fig. 2

From: Efficacy profile of noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation on cortical spreading depression susceptibility and the tissue response in a rat model

Fig. 2

Two 2-minute nVNS affords the most efficacious suppression of CSD. A Schematic diagram of dose-response paradigm of acute nVNS. A triangle indicates a 2-minute stimulation at medium intensity. B-C Representative intra-cortical microelectrode recordings and whisker–box plots show the effect of sham stimulation or noninvasive transcutaneous VNS at dose of 2 × 2-minute, 3 × 2-minute, and 1 × 6-min (11.4 V) on electrical threshold (B) and KCl (1 M)-evoked CSD frequency (C) in rats. Whisker–box plots show that 2 × 2-minute nVNS but not 3 × 2-minute, 1 × 6-min or sham stimulation significantly elevate electrical threshold and inhibit KCl-evoked CSD frequency in rats (whisker: full range; line: median; cross: mean; n=9 for 3 × 2-minute paradigm and n=8 for other groups; data are the mean of two hemispheres; *P=0.0261 for electrical threshold, *P=0.01 for CSD frequency, compared to sham group, Kruskal-Wallis test followed by post hoc Dunn’s multiple comparisons test). The lower CSD frequency stems from different anesthesia used in different experimental paradigms (barbiturate for amplitude-response; isoflurane+N2O for dose-response and chronic treatment)

Back to article page