Cerebral Cortex, 2021;00: 1–19 https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab158 Original Article ORIGINAL ARTICLE Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/cercor/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cercor/bhab158/6306501 by guest on 06 July 2021 Cortical Responses to Vagus Nerve Stimulation Are Modulated by Brain State in Nonhuman Primates Irene Rembado1, Weiguo Song2, David K. Su3, Ariel Levari4, Larry E. Shupe4, Steve Perlmutter4, Eberhard Fetz4 and Stavros Zanos2 1MindScope Program, Allen Institute, 615 Westlake Ave N., Seattle, WA 98103, USA, 2Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Manhasset NY 11030, USA, 3Providence Regional Medical Center Cranial Joint and Spine Clinic, Everett, WA 98201, USA and 4Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA Address correspondence to Irene Rembado, MindScope Program at the Allen Institute, 615 Westlake Ave N., Seattle, WA 98103, USA. Email:
[email protected]; Stavros Zanos, Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, 350 Community Drive, Manhasset NY 11030, USA. Email:
[email protected] Abstract Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has been tested as therapy for several brain disorders and as a means to modulate cortical excitability and brain plasticity. Cortical effects of VNS, manifesting as vagal-evoked potentials (VEPs), are thought to arise from activation of ascending cholinergic and noradrenergic systems. However, it is unknown whether those effects are modulated by brain state at the time of stimulation. In 2 freely behaving macaque monkeys, we delivered short trains of 5 pulses to the left cervical vagus nerve at different frequencies (5-300 Hz) while recording local field potentials (LFPs) from sites in contralateral prefrontal, sensorimotor and parietal cortical areas.