Fig. 1: Median and ulnar nerve injury and delivery of vagus nerve stimulation during rehabilitation.
From: Enhancing plasticity in central networks improves motor and sensory recovery after nerve damage
a A rat performing the volitional forelimb isometric pull task. b Schematic of the nerve injury. The median and ulnar nerves in the trained forelimb, innervating the digit flexor muscles required for grasping, were individually transected. The nerve stumps were then sutured into a guide conduit leaving a 6 mm gap between stumps. Reinnervation takes place, but the procedure results in chronic deficits in nerve architecture distal to the injury site. The radial nerve innervating the wrist and digit extensors of the forelimb was spared. Scale bar indicates 10 µm. c Illustration of the VNS device. A cuff electrode was placed on the left cervical vagus nerve in the neck with subcutaneous leads connected to a head-mount. d Timeline of rehabilitative training after nerve injury. Rehabilitation began 6 weeks after nerve injury, and rats received either closed-loop VNS paired with forelimb movement during rehabilitation (CL-VNS), equivalent training without VNS (Rehab), or a matched amount of VNS delivered after equivalent daily training sessions (Delayed VNS).
