ArticleScientific reports2019
Visualizing the trigeminovagal complex in the human medulla by combining ex-vivo ultra-high resolution structural MRI and polarized light imaging microscopy.
Article in Scientific reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Brain-heart axis in burning mouth syndrome: a neurobiological perspective.The Korean journal of pain · 2026Article
- Recurrent Bronchospasm During Intra-arterial Chemotherapy via IMAX Access for Retinoblastoma: A Case Report.Cureus · 2026Article
- Non-Invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Cluster Headache: A Clinical Practice Guideline.Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2025Review
- Integration of nociceptive activity from orofacial, cranial and cervical regions in the trigeminocervical nucleus: a scoping review with clinical implications.Journal of oral & facial pain and headache · 2025Article
- Short-Term Effects of Visceral Manual Therapy on Autonomic Nervous System Modulation in Individuals with Clinically Based Bruxism: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Dentistry journal · 2025Article
- Orofacial pain/headache interlaced to insomnia, sleep apnea and periodic limb movement during sleep/restless leg syndrome: a critical and comprehensive review with insights into social determinants.Journal of oral & facial pain and headache · 2025Review
- Article
- Non-invasive neuromodulation of the cervical vagus nerve in rare primary headaches.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Management of auricular transcutaneous neuromodulation and electro-acupuncture of the vagus nerve for chronic migraine: a systematic review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Review
- Effects of Stimulus Frequency, Intensity, and Sex on the Autonomic Response to Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation.Brain sciences · 2022Article
- E-Learning Three-Dimensional Anatomy of the Brainstem: Impact of Different Microscopy Techniques and Spatial Ability.Anatomical sciences education · 2022Article
- Closed-Loop Vagus Nerve Stimulation for the Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases: State of the Art and Future Directions.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Review
- A structural connectivity atlas of limbic brainstem nuclei.Frontiers in neuroimaging · 2022Article
- Anatomy of nerve fiber bundles at micrometer-resolution in the vervet monkey visual system.eLife · 2020Article
- Inhibition of Trigeminal Nociception by Non-invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Investigating the Role of GABAergic and Serotonergic Pathways in a Model of Episodic Migraine.Frontiers in neurology · 2020Article
- Tympanic Resonance Hypothesis.Frontiers in neurology · 2020Article
- Stimulus frequency modulates brainstem response to respiratory-gated transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation.Brain stimulationArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A trigeminovagal complex, as described in some animals, could help to explain the effect of vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for headache disorders. However, the existence of a trigeminovagal complex in humans remains unclear. This study, therefore investigated the existence of the trigeminovagal complex in humans. One post-mortem human brainstem was scanned at 11.7T to obtain structural (T1-weighted) and diffusion magnetic resonance images ((d)MR images). Post-processing of dMRI data provided track density imaging (TDI) maps to investigate white matter at a smaller resolution than the imaging resolution. To evaluate the reconstructed tracts, the MR-scanned brainstem and three additional brainstems were sectioned for polarized light imaging (PLI) microscopy. T1-weighted images showed hyperintense vagus medullar striae, coursing towards the dorsomedial aspect of the medulla. dMRI-, TDI- and PLI-images showed these striae to intersect the trigeminal spinal tract (sp5) in the lateral medulla. In addition, PLI images showed that a minority of vagus fibers separated from the vagus trajectory and joined the trigeminal spinal nucleus (Sp5) and the sp5. The course of the vagus tract in the rostral medulla was demonstrated in this study. This study shows that the trigeminal- and vagus systems interconnect anatomically at the level of the rostral medulla where the vagus fibers intersect with the Sp5 and sp5. Physiological and clinical utility of this newly identified interconnection is a topic for further research.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.