vagus nerves

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vagus nerves

The 10th of the 12 pairs of cranial nerves that arise directly from the brain. The vagus nerves arise from the sides of the MEDULLA OBLONGATA and pass down the neck to supply and control the throat, LARYNX, BRONCHI, lungs,OESOPHAGUS and heart. They then enter the abdomen on the front and back of the oesophagus and supply the stomach and the intestines as far as the descending COLON. The vagus is an important part of the AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM. From the Latin vagus , wandering or straying.

vagus nerves

the tenth pair of cranial nerves, originating from the brain stem and descending through the neck, thorax and abdomen, giving off branches with both afferent and efferent components to many organs and tissues. The efferent fibres are mainly part of the parasympathetic nervous system, including those that slow the heart and those that innervate smooth muscle and glands in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. The main afferent fibres are visceral afferents from thoracic and abdominal organs.

References in periodicals archive ?

It's hard to know exactly what you're zapping when you stimulate the vagus nerve, says physiologist Gareth Ackland of University College London.

Ackland says that he and his colleagues agree that the vagus nerve is important.

Nobody should overpromise that the vagus nerve is the secret to everything," he says.

Caption: Tamp it down The vagus nerve detects inflammation or infection in the body and relays signals from the brain stem along its southbound fibers.

Waking the vagus: the meandering nerve is a target for a range of therapies

The vagus nerve stimulator is widely used in patients with intractable epilepsy who are not candidates for epilepsy surgery.

People with intractable epilepsy and their families should ask their epilepsy team about the possibility of using a vagus nerve stimulator to help control their seizures.

If the vagus nerve stimulator is worsening swallowing difficulties during eating, it can be turned off during meals by taping the magnet over it.

That your son or daughter has had surgery to implant a vagus nerve stimulator to reduce the frequency and severity of their seizures.