Multiple sclerosis (MS), a neuroinflammatory disease, has few treatment options, none entirely adequate. We studied whether prolonged electrical stimulation of a hindbrain region (the nucleus raphe magnus) can attenuate experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a murine model of MS induced by MOG35-55 injection. Eight days after symptoms emerged, a wireless electrical stimulator with a connectorless protruding microelectrode was implanted cranially, and daily intermittent stimulation of awake, unrestrained mice began immediately. The thoracic spinal cord was analyzed for changes in histology (on day 29) and gene expression (on day 37), with a focus on myelination and cytokine production. Controls, with inactive implants, showed a phase of disease exacerbation on days 19-25 that stimulation for >16 days eliminated. Prolonged stimulation also reduced infiltrating immune cells and increased numbers of myelinated axons. It additionally lowered gene expression for some pro-inflammatory cytokines (interferon gamma and tumor necrosis factor) and for platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha, a marker of oligodendrocyte precursors, while raising it for myelin basic protein. Restorative treatments for MS might profitably consider ways to stimulate the raphe magnus, directly or via its inputs, or to emulate its serotonergic and peptidergic output.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 26 September 2025.
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#9,413,879
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#144,074
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Outputs of similar age from Neuroscience
#31
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Altmetric has tracked 29,346,329 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 67th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 8,216 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.7. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 67% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 106 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 68% of its contemporaries.
