Electroencephalogram (EEG) has been an important tool for scientists to study epilepsy and evaluate the treatment of epilepsy for half a century, since epilepsy seizures are caused by the diffusion of excessive discharge of brain neurons. This paper reviews the clinical application of scalp EEG in the treatment of intractable epilepsy with vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in the past 30 years. It mainly introduces the prediction of the therapeutic effect of VNS on intractable epilepsy based on EEG characteristics and the effect of VNS on EEG of patients with intractable epilepsy, and expounds some therapeutic mechanisms of VNS. For predicting the efficacy of VNS based on EEG characteristics, EEG characteristics such as epileptiform discharge, polarity of slow cortical potential changes, changes of EEG symmetry level and changes of EEG power spectrum are described. In view of the influence of VNS treatment on patients’ EEG characteristics, the change of epileptiform discharge, power spectrum, synchrony, brain network and amplitude of event-related potential P300 are described. Although no representative EEG markers have been identified for clinical promotion, this review paves the way for prospective studies of larger patient populations in the future to better apply EEG to the clinical treatment of VNS, and provides ideas for predicting VNS efficacy, assessing VNS efficacy, and understanding VNS treatment mechanisms, with broad medical and scientific implications.
ObjectiveTo investigate the anatomic distribution of hepatic nerves in liver and summarize the physiological and pathological functions of autonomic nervous system in liver.MethodThe literatures of studies related to human and animal liver neuroanatomy and function in recent years were reviewed, and the physiological and pathological functions involved in liver were summarized according to sympathetic nerve and vagus nerve, respectively.ResultHepatic nerves were mainly involved in regulating glucose and lipid metabolism, immune response, inflammation, hemodynamics, alcoholic liver disease, tumor metastasis, and liver regeneration after injury.ConclusionThe mechanism of nerve regulation in liver is complex, and understanding these mechanisms provides a general new idea for the future treatment strategies for liver diseases.