Three years, 60 donated nerves: a new open 3D map of the human vagus nerve

A public, three-dimensional map of the human vagus nerve is now downloadable by any researcher through the NIH Common Fund's SPARC program. The dataset (SPARC dataset 514, version 1) was built over three years from 60 vagus nerves (left and right cervical vagus) from 30 human donors.

The vagus nerve is the body's longest cranial nerve, with two bundles running from the brainstem through the neck to the major organs. It carries more than 200,000 individual fibers and controls automatic functions like heart rate, breathing, and digestion, while acting as a switch for inflammation. Vagus-nerve stimulation is in trials for epilepsy, depression, and inflammatory conditions, but device designers have worked from 2D imaging and placement guesswork.

The new dataset replaces that baseline with a shared 3D reconstruction built from microCT, immunohistochemistry, and ultrasound, mapping both fascicles and individual fibers. The project is co-led by Stavros Zanos, MD, PhD, of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, the Northwell Health research arm; the broader institute is led by Kevin J. Tracey, MD. Funding came from a $6.7M NIH Common Fund grant awarded in October 2022 under the Reconstructing Vagal Anatomy (REVA) project within SPARC, with additional philanthropic support from Peter J. Pappas, Jr. The data is mirrored on Pennsieve Discover.

In the Feinstein release, Zanos called the dataset "a major step forward in bioelectronic medicine, offering the most detailed anatomical reconstruction of the human vagus nerve to date." The institute's "first comprehensive" framing is on-the-record institutional language, not independent verification.