. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Feb 28.

Published in final edited form as: Auton Neurosci. 2008 Feb 29;138(1-2):9–23. doi: 10.1016/j.autneu.2007.11.001

Table 1. The Summary of Different Mechanisms of SCS Effects on Peripheral, Cardiovascular and Cerebral vascular systems.

The table illustrates the different mechanisms regarding SCS effects on different organs: 1) effects of SCS at C1-C2 on cerebrovascular system are associated with the decrease of sympathetic outflow and activation of TRPV1; 2) effects of SCS at T1-T2 on cardiovascular system are largely dependent on adjusting intrinsic cardiac nervous system potentially via sympathetic and sensory neurons; 3) effects of SCS at L2-L3 on peripheral vascular system is due to antidromic activation of TRPV1 containing sensory neurons and a decrease of sympathetic outflow. Symbols explanation: + represents a positive relationship between SCS effects and one of mechanisms; ? represents an unproven relationship.

SCS	Targeted Tissues		Mechanisms
SCS	Targeted Tissues		Sensory fibers	Sympat hetic outflow	CGRP	TRPV1	NO	other
C1-C2	Brain	Vasodilation/Ischemia	?	+	?	+	+	Brain nucleus (+)
C1-C2 T1-T2	Heart	Improved heart function/Angina pectoris	+	+	?	?	?	Intrinsic cardiac nervous system (+)
L2-L3	Lower limbs	Vasodilation/Ischemia	+	+	+	+	+	ERK and AKT phosphorylation in spinal cord (?)