Effects of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on brain functional connectivity of medial prefrontal cortex in patients with primary insomnia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuai Zhang ◽  
Jia‐Kai He ◽  
Hong Meng ◽  
Bin Zhao ◽  
Ya‐Nan Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Primary Insomnia ◽  
Brain Functional Connectivity

Noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation and the trigeminal autonomic reflex

Neurology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (10) ◽  
pp. e1085-e1093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maike Möller ◽  
Jan Mehnert ◽  
Celina F. Schroeder ◽  
Arne May
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Parahippocampal Gyrus ◽  
Pontine Nucleus ◽  
Fmri Session ◽  
Autonomic Reflex ◽  
The Right ◽  
Healthy Participants

ObjectiveThe trigeminal autonomic reflex is a physiologic reflex that plays a crucial role in primary headache and particularly in trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias, such as cluster headache. Previous studies have shown that this reflex can be modulated by the vagus nerve, leading to an inhibition of the parasympathetic output of the reflex in healthy participants. The aim of the present study was to characterize neural correlates of the modulatory effect of noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) on the trigeminal autonomic reflex.MethodsTwenty-one healthy participants were included in a 2-day, randomized, single-blind, within-subject design. The reflex was activated inside the MRI scanner using kinetic oscillation stimulation placed in the left nostril, resulting in an increase in lacrimation. After the first fMRI session, the participants received either sham vagus nerve stimulation or nVNS outside the scanner and underwent a subsequent fMRI session.ResultsnVNS prompted an increase in activation of the left pontine nucleus and a decreased activation of the right parahippocampal gyrus. Psychophysiologic interaction analyses revealed an increased functional connectivity between the left pontine nucleus and the right hypothalamus and a decreased functional connectivity between the right parahippocampal gyrus and the bilateral spinal trigeminal nuclei (sTN).ConclusionsThese findings indicate a complex network involved in the modulatory effect of nVNS including the hypothalamus, the sTN, the pontine nucleus, and the parahippocampal gyrus.

scholarly journals Different modulation effects of 1 Hz and 20 Hz transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on the functional connectivity of the periaqueductal gray in patients with migraine

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Cao ◽  
Yue Zhang ◽  
Hui Li ◽  
Zhaoxian Yan ◽  
Xian Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Periaqueductal Gray ◽  
Pain Modulation ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Descending Pain Modulation

Abstract Background A growing body of evidence suggests that transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) may relieve symptoms of migraineurs. Frequency is one of the key stimulation parameters. The aim of this study is to investigate the modulation effect of taVNS frequency on the descending pain modulation system (DPMS) in patients with migraine. Methods Twenty-four episodic migraineurs without aura (21 females) were recruited for the single-blind, crossover, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. Each participant attended two separate fMRI scan sessions, one for 1 Hz and another for 20 Hz taVNS, in a random order. Seed-based functional connectivity analysis was applied using the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (PAG) as the region of interest. Results Compared with the pre-taVNS resting state, continuous 1 Hz taVNS (during) produced a significant increase in functional connectivity between the PAG and the bilateral middle cingulate cortex (MCC), right precuneus, left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), and left cuneus. Compared with 20 Hz taVNS, 1 Hz taVNS produced greater PAG connectivity increases with the MCC, right precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex, left insula, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). A significant negative correlation was observed between the number of migraine attacks in the previous 4 weeks and the PAG-MCC functional connectivity in the pre-taVNS resting-state before 1 Hz taVNS. Conclusions Our findings suggest that taVNS with different frequencies may produce different modulation effects on the descending pain modulation system, demonstrating the important role of stimulation frequency in taVNS treatment.

scholarly journals Vagus nerve stimulation enhances extinction of conditioned fear and modulates plasticity in the pathway from the ventromedial prefrontal cortex to the amygdala

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Frausto Peña ◽  
Jessica E. Childs ◽  
Shawn Willett ◽  
Analicia Vital ◽  
Christa K. McIntyre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Conditioned Fear ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation modulates amygdala functional connectivity in patients with depression

2016 ◽  
Vol 205 ◽  
pp. 319-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Liu ◽  
Jiliang Fang ◽  
Zengjian Wang ◽  
Peijing Rong ◽  
Yang Hong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) for migraine: an fMRI study

2020 ◽  
pp. rapm-2020-102088
Author(s):  
Yue Zhang ◽  
Yiting Huang ◽  
Hui Li ◽  
Zhaoxian Yan ◽  
Ying Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Connectivity Analysis ◽  
Functional Connectivity Analysis ◽  
Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation

BackgroundDysfunction of the thalamocortical connectivity network is thought to underlie the pathophysiology of the migraine. This current study aimed to explore the thalamocortical connectivity changes during 4 weeks of continuous transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) treatment on migraine patients.Methods70 migraine patients were recruited and randomized in an equal ratio to receive real taVNS or sham taVNS treatments for 4 weeks. Resting-state functional MRI was collected before and after treatment. The thalamus was parceled into functional regions of interest (ROIs) on the basis of six priori-defined cortical ROIs covering the entire cortex. Seed-based functional connectivity analysis between each thalamic subregion and the whole brain was further compared across groups after treatment.ResultsOf the 59 patients that finished the study, those in the taVNS group had significantly reduced number of migraine days, pain intensity and migraine attack times after 4 weeks of treatment compared with the sham taVNS. Functional connectivity analysis revealed that taVNS can increase the connectivity between the motor-related thalamus subregion and anterior cingulate cortex/medial prefrontal cortex, and decrease the connectivity between occipital cortex-related thalamus subregion and postcentral gyrus/precuneus.ConclusionOur findings suggest that taVNS can relieve the symptoms of headache as well as modulate the thalamocortical circuits in migraine patients. The results provide insights into the neural mechanism of taVNS and reveal potential therapeutic targets for migraine patients.

scholarly journals The Instant Spontaneous Neuronal Activity Modulation of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Patients With Primary Insomnia

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Zhao ◽  
Yanzhi Bi ◽  
Liang Li ◽  
Jinling Zhang ◽  
Yang Hong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Primary Insomnia ◽  
Spontaneous Neuronal Activity

scholarly journals Brain signaling dynamics after vagus nerve stimulation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Teckentrup ◽  
Marina Krylova ◽  
Hamidreza Jamalabadi ◽  
Sandra Neubert ◽  
Monja P. Neuser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Dynamic Functional Connectivity ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Induced Changes

The vagus nerve projects to a well-defined neural circuit via the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) and its stimulation elicits a wide range of metabolic, neuromodulatory, and behavioral effects. Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) has been established as a promising technique to non-invasively alter brain function. However, the precise dynamics elicited by tVNS in humans are still largely unknown. Here, we performed fMRI with concurrent right-sided tVNS (vs. sham) following a randomized cross-over design (N=40). First, to unravel the temporal profile of tVNS-induced changes in the NTS, we compared fMRI time series to canonical profiles for stimulation ON and OFF cycles. Model comparisons indicated that NTS time series were best fit by block-wise shifts in signal amplitude with stimulation ON and OFF estimates being highly correlated. Therefore, we compared stimulation (ON + OFF) versus baseline phases and found that tVNS increased fMRI BOLD activation in the NTS, but this effect was dependent on sufficient temporal signal-to-noise ratio (tSNR) in the mask. Second, to identify the spatiotemporal evolution of tVNS-induced changes in the brain, we examined lagged co-activation patterns and phase coherence. In contrast to our hypothesis, tVNS did not alter dynamic functional connectivity after correction for multiple comparisons. Third, to establish a positive control for future research, we measured changes in gastric myoelectrical frequency via an electrogastrogram. Again, in contrast to our hypothesis, tVNS induced no changes in gastric frequency. Collectively, our study provides evidence that tVNS can perturb brain signaling in the NTS, but these effects are dependent on tSNR and require precise localization. In light of an absence of acute tVNS-induced effects on dynamic functional connectivity and gastric motility, we discuss which steps are necessary to advance future research on afferent and efferent effects of tVNS.

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