scholarly journals Influence of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on cardiac vagal activity: Not different from sham stimulation and no effect of stimulation intensity

PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. e0223848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uirassu Borges ◽  
Sylvain Laborde ◽  
Markus Raab
Keyword(s):  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagal Activity ◽  
Stimulation Intensity ◽  
Sham Stimulation ◽  
Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation

scholarly journals Recognizing emotions in bodies: Vagus nerve stimulation enhances recognition of anger while impairing sadness

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Steenbergen ◽  
María J. Maraver ◽  
Rossana Actis-Grosso ◽  
Paola Ricciardelli ◽  
Lorenza S. Colzato
Keyword(s):  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Vagal Activity ◽  
Polyvagal Theory ◽  
Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Auricular Branch ◽  
Facial Images

AbstractAccording to the Polyvagal theory, the vagus nerve is the key phylogenetic substrate that supports efficient emotion recognition for promoting safety and survival. Previous studies showed that the vagus nerve affects people’s ability to recognize emotions based on eye regions and whole facial images, but not static bodies. The purpose of this study was to verify whether the previously suggested causal link between vagal activity and emotion recognition can be generalized to situations in which emotions must be inferred from images of whole moving bodies. We employed transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS), a noninvasive brain stimulation technique that stimulates the vagus nerve by a mild electrical stimulation to the auricular branch of the vagus, located in the anterior protuberance of the outer ear. In two sessions, participants received active or sham tVNS before and while performing three emotion recognition tasks, aimed at indexing their ability to recognize emotions from static or moving bodily expressions by actors. Active tVNS, compared to sham stimulation, enhanced the recognition of anger but reduced the ability to recognize sadness, regardless of the type of stimulus (static vs. moving). Convergent with the idea of hierarchical involvement of the vagus in establishing safety, as put forward by the Polyvagal theory, we argue that our findings may be explained by vagus-evoked differential adjustment strategies to emotional expressions. Taken together, our findings fit with an evolutionary perspective on the vagus nerve and its involvement in emotion recognition for the benefit of survival.

scholarly journals Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in humans induces pupil dilation and attenuates alpha oscillations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omer Sharon ◽  
Firas Fahoum ◽  
Yuval Nir
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Pupil Dilation ◽  
Somatosensory Stimulation ◽  
Alpha Oscillations ◽  
Sham Stimulation ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation

AbstractVagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is widely used to treat drug-resistant epilepsy and depression. While the precise mechanisms mediating its long-term therapeutic effects are not fully resolved, they likely involve locus coeruleus (LC) stimulation via the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), which receives afferent vagal inputs. In rats, VNS elevates LC firing and forebrain noradrenaline levels, whereas LC lesions suppress VNS therapeutic efficacy. Non-invasive transcutaneous VNS (tVNS) employs electrical stimulation that targets the auricular branch of the vagus nerve at the cymba conchae of the ear. However, the extent that tVNS mimics VNS remains unclear. Here, we investigated the short-term effects of tVNS in healthy human male volunteers (n=24), using high-density EEG and pupillometry during visual fixation at rest. We compared short (3.4s) trials of tVNS to sham electrical stimulation at the earlobe (far from the vagus nerve branch) to control for somatosensory stimulation. Although tVNS and sham stimulation did not differ in subjective intensity ratings, tVNS led to robust pupil dilation (peaking 4-5s after trial onset) that was significantly higher than following sham stimulation. We further quantified, using parallel factor analysis, how tVNS modulates idle occipital alpha (8-13Hz) activity identified in each participant. We found greater attenuation of alpha oscillations by tVNS than by sham stimulation. This demonstrates that tVNS reliably induces pupillary and EEG markers of arousal beyond the effects of somatosensory stimulation, thus supporting the hypothesis that tVNS elevates noradrenaline and other arousal-promoting neuromodulatory signaling, and mimics invasive VNS.Significance statementCurrent non-invasive brain stimulation techniques are mostly confined to modulating cortical activity, as is typical with transcranial magnetic or transcranial direct/alternating-current electrical stimulation. Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) has been proposed to stimulate subcortical arousal-promoting nuclei, though previous studies yielded inconsistent results. Here we show that short (3.4s) tVNS pulses in naïve healthy male volunteers induced transient pupil dilation and attenuation of occipital alpha oscillations. These markers of brain arousal are in line with the established effects of invasive VNS on locus coeruleus-noradrenaline signaling, and support the notion that tVNS mimics VNS. Therefore, tVNS can be used as a tool for studying the means by which endogenous subcortical neuromodulatory signaling affects human cognition, including perception, attention, memory, and decision-making; and also for developing novel clinical applications.

Effect of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Dysphagia After Lateral Medullary Infarction: A Case Report

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 1381-1387
Author(s):  
Ying Yuan ◽  
Jie Wang ◽  
Dongyu Wu ◽  
Dahua Zhang ◽  
Weiqun Song
Keyword(s):  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Tube Feeding ◽  
Nasogastric Feeding ◽  
Lateral Medullary Infarction ◽  
Severe Dysphagia ◽  
Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Medullary Infarction

Purpose Severe dysphagia with weak pharyngeal peristalsis after dorsal lateral medullary infarction (LMI) requires long-term tube feeding. However, no study is currently available on therapeutic effectiveness in severe dysphagia caused by nuclear damage of vagus nerve after dorsal LMI. The purpose of the present investigation was to explore the potential of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) to improve severe dysphagia with weak pharyngeal peristalsis after dorsal LMI. Method We assessed the efficacy of 6-week tVNS in a 28-year-old woman presented with persisting severe dysphagia after dorsal LMI who had been on nasogastric feeding for 6 months. tVNS was applied for 20 min twice a day, 5 days a week, for 6 weeks. The outcome measures included saliva spitted, Swallow Function Scoring System, Functional Oral Intake Scale, Clinical Assessment of Dysphagia With Wallenberg Syndrome, Yale Pharyngeal Residue Severity Rating Scale, and upper esophagus X-ray examination. Results After tVNS, the patient was advanced to a full oral diet without head rotation or spitting. No saliva residue was found in the valleculae and pyriform sinuses. Contrast medium freely passed through the upper esophageal sphincter. Conclusion Our findings suggest that tVNS might provide a useful means for recovery of severe dysphagia with weak pharyngeal peristalsis after dorsal LMI. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.9755438

Vagus nerve stimulation enhances fear extinction as an inverted-U function of stimulation intensity

2021 ◽  
pp. 113718
Author(s):  
Rimenez R. Souza ◽  
Nicole M. Robertson ◽  
Christa K. McIntyre ◽  
Robert L. Rennaker ◽  
Seth A. Hays ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Fear Extinction ◽  
Stimulation Intensity

scholarly journals Vagus nerve stimulation intensity influences motor cortex plasticity

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 256-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Morrison ◽  
Daniel R. Hulsey ◽  
Katherine S. Adcock ◽  
Robert L. Rennaker ◽  
Michael P. Kilgard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Stimulation Intensity ◽  
Motor Cortex Plasticity

scholarly journals Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation is Associated with Lower Mechanical Ventilation and Mortality in COVID-19 Patients

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nemechek P ◽  
Antonelli G ◽  
Braida A
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Ventilation ◽  
Respiratory Failure ◽  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Safety And Efficacy ◽  
Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Objective: Evaluate the safety and efficacy of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in preventing respiratory failure and improving survival in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

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