Patent ID: 8280505

Claim:
A method of treating a brain disorder in a patient having a cardiac cycle, a vagus nerve, and a brain, the method comprising: detecting at least a portion of the cardiac cycle of the patient; applying to a selected location on the vagus nerve of the patient, in response to having detected the portion of the cardiac cycle of the patient, a pulsed electrical signal configured to increase afferent activity on the vagus nerve to be conducted thereby to the brain to treat the brain disorder, the pulsed electrical signal being selected from the group consisting of a single microburst and a plurality of microbursts, wherein each microburst of the pulsed electrical signal is applied to the selected location on the vagus nerve of the patient, and wherein each microburst of the pulsed electrical signal is patterned and comprises: from 2 to 6 pulses per microburst; at least one interpulse interval between adjacent pulses of the microburst, each interpulse interval ranging from about 5 to about 10 milliseconds; and a microburst duration less than or equal to 100 milliseconds.