A theory about a relationship between the vagus nerve and epilepsy actually dates back to the 1930s. At that time, scientists had discovered the EEG, and, in the process of electrically stimulating different parts of the body, they found that stimulation of the vagus nerve caused the brain waves to flatten out, or "de-synchronize."

It wasn't until the 1980s that technology allowed the idea of stimulating the vagus nerve to treat epilepsy to be developed. After just 3 years of animal testing, the technique was first tested in a human in 1988. In 1997, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved vagus nerve stimulation in combination with seizure medication for partial epilepsy in adults and adolescents.

Topic Editor: Steven C. Schachter, M.D.
Last Reviewed:12/22/06