Many implanted and non-invasive devices are under development to treat diseases by neuromodulation, which produces therapeutic effects by using electrical, magnetic, ultrasonic, or optical signals to alter nerve activity. These therapies provide alternatives or complements to pharmaceutical, behavioral, and more invasive surgical approaches. Many recent therapies target the peripheral visceral/autonomic nervous system—which has sensory and motor components—to treat a wide variety of diseases, including chronic inflammation (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, allergies, inflammatory bowel disease), gastrointestinal conditions (e.g., gastroparesis, constipation, nausea), urogynecological conditions (e.g., incontinence, sexual dysfunction), cardiovascular conditions (e.g., heart failure, hypertension, arrhythmias), metabolic conditions (e.g., type I and type II diabetes, obesity), lung conditions (e.g., acute bronchoconstriction, cough, asthma, COPD), and brain and mental health disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, stroke, traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer’s disease), and pain (e.g., migraine). Many of these diseases span more than one category of condition, and many of these nerves can be a neuromodulation target for more than one disease. This growing research area highlights the need for additional knowledge of the relevant multiscale neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and biophysics for intelligent design of device hardware and stimulation protocols.
This Research Topic will highlight advances in anatomy, neurophysiology, and biophysics of the visceral nervous system to inform analysis and design of neuromodulatory therapies.
We seek Original Research, Systematic Review, Methods, Review, Mini Review, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspective, Case Report, Conceptual Analysis, Data Report, Brief Research Report, Opinion, and Technology and Code submissions that cover, but are not limited to, the following topics, framed in the context of informing research and development of neuromodulation therapies to treat disease through interaction with the peripheral autonomic nervous system, whether preclinically or clinically:
1. Anatomy and biophysics of the visceral nervous system spanning:
a. Peripheral visceral nerves (pre- and post-ganglionic autonomic nerves, visceral sensory nerves, and visceral somatomotor nerves)
b. Autonomic ganglia
c. Nerve-organ interface
d. Targets of peripheral visceral nerves in the central nervous system
e. Tissues and cell types that modulate or support neural activity
2. Multiscale structural anatomical mapping
3. Functional anatomical mapping (relating [patho]physiological function to neural structure)
4. Biophysics of neural elements, including activity in health and disease (from single cell to population level), molecular mechanisms underlying this activity, circuit responses, and responses to electrical, magnetic, ultrasonic, or optical interventions
5. Structural, molecular, or biophysical changes in response to long-term neuromodulation
6. Preclinical animal models or human studies; individual species or comparative studies; consideration of variability across individuals, sexes, and life stages
7. Healthy and diseased states, as well as pathogenesis
8. Analysis, visualization, and computational modeling of anatomical and biophysical data of the autonomic nervous system, including leveraging existing datasets
Dr. Conde has the following patent: Conde SV, Chew DJ, Famm K, Guarino MP, Holinski B, Patel S (2015) Neuromodulation device. Patent PCT/PT2015/000047. International Bureau WO/2016/072875. The other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.
Many implanted and non-invasive devices are under development to treat diseases by neuromodulation, which produces therapeutic effects by using electrical, magnetic, ultrasonic, or optical signals to alter nerve activity. These therapies provide alternatives or complements to pharmaceutical, behavioral, and more invasive surgical approaches. Many recent therapies target the peripheral visceral/autonomic nervous system—which has sensory and motor components—to treat a wide variety of diseases, including chronic inflammation (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, allergies, inflammatory bowel disease), gastrointestinal conditions (e.g., gastroparesis, constipation, nausea), urogynecological conditions (e.g., incontinence, sexual dysfunction), cardiovascular conditions (e.g., heart failure, hypertension, arrhythmias), metabolic conditions (e.g., type I and type II diabetes, obesity), lung conditions (e.g., acute bronchoconstriction, cough, asthma, COPD), and brain and mental health disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, stroke, traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer’s disease), and pain (e.g., migraine). Many of these diseases span more than one category of condition, and many of these nerves can be a neuromodulation target for more than one disease. This growing research area highlights the need for additional knowledge of the relevant multiscale neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and biophysics for intelligent design of device hardware and stimulation protocols.
This Research Topic will highlight advances in anatomy, neurophysiology, and biophysics of the visceral nervous system to inform analysis and design of neuromodulatory therapies.
We seek Original Research, Systematic Review, Methods, Review, Mini Review, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspective, Case Report, Conceptual Analysis, Data Report, Brief Research Report, Opinion, and Technology and Code submissions that cover, but are not limited to, the following topics, framed in the context of informing research and development of neuromodulation therapies to treat disease through interaction with the peripheral autonomic nervous system, whether preclinically or clinically:
1. Anatomy and biophysics of the visceral nervous system spanning:
a. Peripheral visceral nerves (pre- and post-ganglionic autonomic nerves, visceral sensory nerves, and visceral somatomotor nerves)
b. Autonomic ganglia
c. Nerve-organ interface
d. Targets of peripheral visceral nerves in the central nervous system
e. Tissues and cell types that modulate or support neural activity
2. Multiscale structural anatomical mapping
3. Functional anatomical mapping (relating [patho]physiological function to neural structure)
4. Biophysics of neural elements, including activity in health and disease (from single cell to population level), molecular mechanisms underlying this activity, circuit responses, and responses to electrical, magnetic, ultrasonic, or optical interventions
5. Structural, molecular, or biophysical changes in response to long-term neuromodulation
6. Preclinical animal models or human studies; individual species or comparative studies; consideration of variability across individuals, sexes, and life stages
7. Healthy and diseased states, as well as pathogenesis
8. Analysis, visualization, and computational modeling of anatomical and biophysical data of the autonomic nervous system, including leveraging existing datasets
Dr. Conde has the following patent: Conde SV, Chew DJ, Famm K, Guarino MP, Holinski B, Patel S (2015) Neuromodulation device. Patent PCT/PT2015/000047. International Bureau WO/2016/072875. The other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.
