Investigating vagus nerve modulation during temporal lobe seizures in a kainic acid rat model
(2025)
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- Abstract
- Epilepsy is one of the most prevalent neurological disorders, affecting over 50 million people worldwide. Approximately one-third of patients exhibit drug-resistant forms for which resective surgery is not always indicated. Neuromodulation, particularly vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), represents a less invasive therapeutic alternative. Closed-loop VNS systems, which rely on ictal tachycardia detection, have improved clinical efficacy; however, their specificity remains limited due to variability in cardiac responses, highlighting the need for more reliable biomarkers for seizure detection and the optimization of stimulation strategies. This thesis focuses on the characterization of vagus nerve activity during seizures in the kainic acid rat model, a relevant model of human temporal lobe epilepsy. Temporal lobe seizures are frequently associated with pronounced autonomic alterations, including changes in cardiac, respiratory, and gastrointestinal function. The vagus nerve, as the main parasympathetic relay, provides access to these multi-organ signals, offering an integrative approach for seizure assessment. The work investigates VNA both in acute anesthetized conditions and in chronic awake recordings to evaluate its potential as a biomarker for the development of closed-loop stimulation strategies.
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Acedo Reina, E. (2025). Investigating vagus nerve modulation during temporal lobe seizures in a kainic acid rat model. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/248934