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Vagus Nerve Research
Caption:
Graduate student Tiffanie Markus uses a microscope to fabricate the tiny electrodes used to painlessly stimulate the vagus nerve in rats. [Image 1 of 2 related images; see also, Rat on Balance Beam.]
More about this Image
Behavioral neuroscientists and psychology professors Robert Jensen and Douglas Smith at Southern Illinois University Carbondale are conducting research into the functions of the vagus nerve. Smith, Jensen, and their students have shown that electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve can improve people’s memory, and hence learning. They’ve also shown that such stimulation can help lab rats recover much more quickly from brain injury—and they hope humans as well.
The National Science Foundation awarded a three-year grant in the summer of 2001 to Jensen and Smith, to continue their work and delve deeper into what happens in the brain when the vagus nerve is stimulated.
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| Credit: |
Photo by University Photocommunications, Southern Illinois University Carbondale |
| Decade of Image: |
2000 - 2009 |
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Categories:
NEUROSCIENCE
Formats Available:
Restrictions:
No additional restrictions--beyond NSF's general restrictions--have been placed on this image. For a list of general restrictions that apply to this and all images in the NSF Image Library, see the section "Conditions".
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