Fig. 3.

Muscarinic enhancement of neuronal excitability is mitigated with VNS. Evoked action potential (AP) frequencies in response to increasing intracellular stimulus intensities were evaluated concurrently with brief (1-s) local exposure to exogenous norepinephrine (NE) or bethanechol (Beth) in intrinsic cardiac (IC) somata derived from control animals and animals subjected to PO with and without chronic VNS (RCV or LCV). Animals were evaluated 50 days after PO induction. RCV or LCV was initiated 10 days after PO induction and was maintained to termination. Values are means ± SE from ∼60 cells for each condition. A nonparametric Friedman's test was used to evaluate difference among groups followed by Wilcoxon's signed-rank post hoc tests using Bonferroni's correction. *P < 0.05, baseline (control, PO, PO + RCV, or PO + LCV) vs. Beth. +P < 0.05, NE vs. Beth. #P < 0.05, baseline (control, PO, PO + RCV, or PO + LCV) vs. NE.