Objective. To review the scientific publications reporting vagal nerve somatosensory-evoked potential (VSEP) findings from individuals with brain disorders, and present novel physiological explanations on the VSEP origin. Methods. We did a systematic review on the papers reporting VSEP findings from individuals with brain disorders and their controls. We evaluated papers published from 2003 to date indexed in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scielo databases. We extracted the following information: number of patients and controls, type of neural disorder, age, gender, stimulating/recording and grounding electrodes as well as stimulus side, intensity, duration, frequency, and polarity. Information about physiological parameters, neurobiological variables, and correlation studies was also reviewed. Representative vignettes were included to add support to our conclusions. Results. The VSEP was studied in 297 patients with neural disorders such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, mild cognitive impairment, subjective memory impairment, major depression, and multiple sclerosis. Scalp responses marked as the VSEP showed high variability, low validity, and poor reproducibility. VSEP latencies and amplitudes did not correlate with disease duration, unified PD rating scale score, or heart function in PD patients nor with cerebrospinal fluid β amyloid, phosphor-τ, and cognitive tests from patients with mental disorders. Vignettes demonstrated that the VSEP was volume conduction propagating from muscles surrounding the scalp recording electrodes. Conclusion. The VSEP is not a brain-evoked potential of neural origin but muscle activity induced by electrical stimulation of the tragus region of the ear. This review and illustrative vignettes argue against assessing the parasympathetic system using the so-called VSEP.

客观的。回顾报告迷走神经体感诱发电位 (VSEP) 发现的脑部疾病患者的科学出版物，并对 VSEP 的起源提出新的生理学解释。方法。我们对报告脑部疾病患者及其对照者的 VSEP 发现的论文进行了系统评价。我们评估了从 2003 年至今发表在 PubMed、Web of Science 和 Scielo 数据库中的论文。我们提取了以下信息：患者和对照组的数量、神经疾病的类型、年龄、性别、刺激/记录和接地电极以及刺激侧、强度、持续时间、频率和极性。还审查了有关生理参数、神经生物学变量和相关性研究的信息。包括代表性的小插曲以增加对我们结论的支持。结果。VSEP 在 297 名患有神经疾病的患者中进行了研究，例如帕金森病 (PD)、阿尔茨海默病、血管性痴呆、轻度认知障碍、主观记忆障碍、重度抑郁症和多发性硬化症。标记为 VSEP 的头皮反应显示出高变异性、低有效性和可重复性差。VSEP 潜伏期和振幅与 PD 患者的疾病持续时间、统一的 PD 评定量表评分或心功能无关，也与精神障碍患者的脑脊液 β 淀粉样蛋白、磷-τ 和认知测试无关。小插曲证明 VSEP 是从头皮记录电极周围的肌肉传播的体积传导。结论。VSEP 不是神经起源的脑诱发电位，而是由耳屏区域的电刺激引起的肌肉活动。这篇评论和说明性的小插曲反对使用所谓的 VSEP 评估副交感神经系统。