Article
Clinical Neurology
Daniel H. Lench, Travis H. Turner, Colin McLeod, Heather A. Boger, Lilia Lovera, Lisa Heidelberg, Jordan Elm, Anh Phan, Bashar W. Badran, Vanessa K. Hinson
Summary: This study evaluated the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) in participants with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease. The results showed that taVNS treatment was safe and well-tolerated, but daily in-office visits were burdensome for participants. Although there were no significant differences in MDS-UPDRS scores or self-reported measures, verbal fluency decreased in the taVNS group. Future studies should explore at-home stimulation devices and optimize stimulation parameters.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Johanna L. Chang, Ashley N. Coggins, Maira Saul, Alexandra Paget-Blanc, Malgorzata Straka, Jason Wright, Timir Datta-Chaudhuri, Stavros Zanos, Bruce T. Volpe
Summary: The study suggests that taVNS during robotic training can lead to positive motor improvements in patients with chronic stroke, particularly in reducing wrist and hand spasticity. By triggering specific visual cues, taVNS helps improve coordinated activation of agonist-antagonist upper arm muscle groups, reducing spasticity and increasing motor control.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Giuseppe Forte, Francesca Favieri, Erik Leemhuis, Maria Luisa De Martino, Anna Maria Giannini, Luigi De Gennaro, Maria Casagrande, Mariella Pazzaglia
Summary: This study demonstrates that taVNS can reliably increase HRV parameters when stimulating the cymba, compared to stimulation at another site. The results suggest that HRV can serve as a physiological indicator for taVNS in research and potential therapeutic applications.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Erica Kreisberg, Zeinab Esmaeilpour, Devin Adair, Niranjan Khadka, Abhishek Datta, Bashar W. Badran, J. Douglas Bremner, Marom Bikson
Summary: Different electrode designs for taVNS were compared in terms of predicted peak electric fields and spatial distribution. Current flow patterns through the ear were specific to the electrode montage, with maximal electric field under the electrodes. Each montage was selective for one or two regions of interest, supporting analysis and optimization of new devices.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yoon-Young Go, Won-Min Ju, Chan-Mi Lee, Sung-Won Chae, Jae-Jun Song
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the inhibitory effects of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on systemic inflammation. The results showed that taVNS with a frequency of 15 Hz had a higher anti-inflammatory capacity than taVNS with 25 Hz, suggesting the importance of taVNS parameter selection in acute inflammation treatment.
Article
Neurosciences
Yixiang Mao, Conan Chen, Maryam Falahpour, Kelly H. MacNiven, Gary Heit, Vivek Sharma, Konstantinos Alataris, Thomas T. Liu
Summary: The study found that high-frequency sub-threshold taVNS can lead to sustained effects on the rsFC of brain regions involved in interoception and processing of pain in a cohort of healthy subjects, laying the foundation for future rsfMRI studies of high-frequency sub-threshold taVNS in clinical populations.
FRONTIERS IN HUMAN NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Neurosciences
Yu Wang, Shao-Yuan Li, Dan Wang, Mo-Zheng Wu, Jia-Kai He, Jin-Ling Zhang, Bin Zhao, Li-Wei Hou, Jun-Ying Wang, Lei Wang, Yi-Fei Wang, Yue Zhang, Zi-Xuan Zhang, Pei-Jing Rong
Summary: The connection between the ear and the rest of the body has been explored for a long time, leading to the development of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) which aims to treat diseases non-invasively. TaVNS has been extensively researched and applied as an alternative to drug treatment for various diseases.
NEUROSCIENCE BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yuxin Chen, Xuejing Lu, Li Hu
Summary: Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is a noninvasive technique that shows potential benefits on human emotion and cognition. This study aimed to investigate the modulatory effect of taVNS on cortical arousal and alertness and to understand its neural mechanisms.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Kathrin Machetanz, Levan Berelidze, Robert Guggenberger, Alireza Gharabaghi
Summary: Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation modulates brain activity and heart function, leading to an increase in heart rate variability. Different stimulation targets induce frequency-specific oscillatory modulation in various cortical areas, with the most prominent changes in the frontal region. Stimulating different auricular locations results in specific patterns of cortical oscillations, highlighting the potential for defining stimulation parameters for therapeutic purposes.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Fioravante Capone, Francesco Motolese, Antonio Di Zazzo, Marco Antonini, Alessandro Magliozzi, Mariagrazia Rossi, Massimo Marano, Fabio Pilato, Gabriella Musumeci, Marco Coassin, Vincenzo Di Lazzaro
Summary: The study aimed to investigate the effects of taVNS on pupil diameter in healthy subjects, revealing that taVNS induces pupil dilation under specific illuminance conditions and at specific stimulation intensity.
CLINICAL NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Jifei Sun, Chunlei Guo, Yue Ma, Shanshan Gao, Yi Luo, Qingyan Chen, Yang Hong, Xiaobing Hou, Xue Xiao, Xue Yu, Peijing Rong, Jiliang Fang
Summary: Previous studies have demonstrated the clinical efficacy of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD), and its mechanism of action involves the modulation of the default mode network (DMN) and cognitive control network (CCN). However, the immediate effect of taVNS on MDD is not well understood. This study aimed to investigate the immediate effect of taVNS on MDD and its impact on the DMN and CCN.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Martina D'Agostini, Andreas M. Burger, Mathijs Franssen, Ana Perkovic, Stephan Claes, Andreas von Leupoldt, Peter R. Murphy, Ilse Van Diest
Summary: The study aimed to test whether taVNS enhances pupil dilation and the effect of stimulation parameters on it. The results showed that stimulation settings can linearly increase pupil dilation, and the effect is stronger in the taVNS condition. In addition, taVNS elicited more intense and unpleasant sensations compared to sham stimulation.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Dong Wu, Bo Liu, Yunqing Wu, Yu Wang, Jingyi Sun, Jun Yang, Jinping Duan, Gang Liu, Kai Cao, Yi Zhang, Peijing Rong
Summary: The results of this study suggest that taVNS combined with Betahistine Mesylate can relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life for patients with Meniere Disease.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Marius Keute, Kathrin Machetanz, Levan Berelidze, Robert Guggenberger, Alireza Gharabaghi
Summary: This study investigated physiological candidate biomarkers for transcutaneous auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation (taVNS) and found that taVNS had effects on heart rate and heart rate variability scores during stimulation, indicating parasympathetic activation. However, these effects were short-lived, and baseline neuro-cardiac coupling scores may predict individual responses to taVNS.
Article
Neurosciences
Turki Aljuhani, Patricia Coker-Bolt, Lakshmi Katikaneni, Viswanathan Ramakrishnan, Alyssa Brennan, Mark S. George, Bashar W. Badran, Dorothea Jenkins
Summary: The objective of this study was to assess the impact of non-invasive transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation (taVNS) paired with oral feeding on long-term neurodevelopmental and sensory outcomes. The study found that infants who achieved full oral feeds during taVNS had better sensory processing, but there were no significant differences in other developmental tests.
FRONTIERS IN HUMAN NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Magdalena Ferstl, Vanessa Teckentrup, Wy Ming Lin, Franziska Kraeutlein, Anne Kuehnel, Johannes Klaus, Martin Walter, Nils B. Kroemer
Summary: Both left and right transcutaneous auricular VNS can improve positive mood after prolonged effort, with lower baseline positive mood scores being associated with greater VNS-induced motivation improvement. This suggests that VNS can help quickly improve mood and relies to some extent on initial mood states.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Franziska K. Mueller, Vanessa Teckentrup, Anne Kuehnel, Magdalena Ferstl, Nils B. Kroemer
Summary: The vagus nerve plays a vital role in the regulation of food intake, but the effects of taVNS on food ratings are inconclusive in human studies. This study found that acute taVNS has a marginal effect on food ratings, calling for further research on the correspondence between acute and chronic effects of vagal afferent stimulation.
Article
Neurosciences
Anne Kuehnel, Michael Czisch, Philipp G. Saemann, Elisabeth B. Binder, Nils B. Kroemer
Summary: Individual variations in acute stress-induced neurophysiological changes, specifically in neural activation and functional connectivity (FC), are important in understanding the risk factors for mood and anxiety disorders. This study examined 217 participants with and without these disorders to map the individual differences in stress responses using psychosocial stress tasks. The results showed that changes in FC predicted stress phases and heart rate levels, and individual spatiotemporal trajectories across networks predicted negative affectivity. These findings highlight the significance of network dynamics in predicting individual risk for mood and anxiety disorders.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Carolin A. Lewis, Ann-Christin S. Kimmig, Nils B. Kroemer, Shakoor Pooseh, Michael N. Smolka, Julia Sacher, Birgit Derntl
Summary: Fluctuating ovarian hormones have been shown to affect decision-making processes in women. However, women using oral contraceptives do not differ in value-based decision-making compared to the early follicular and periovulatory natural menstrual cycle phases.
FRONTIERS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Janik Goltermann, Nils Ralf Winter, Susanne Meinert, Lisa Sindermann, Hannah Lemke, Elisabeth J. Leehr, Dominik Grotegerd, Alexandra Winter, Katharina Thiel, Lena Waltemate, Fabian Breuer, Jonathan Repple, Marius Gruber, Maike Richter, Vanessa Teckentrup, Nils B. Kroemer, Katharina Brosch, Tina Meller, Julia-Katharina Pfarr, Kai Gustav Ringwald, Frederike Stein, Walter Heindel, Andreas Jansen, Tilo Kircher, Igor Nenadic, Udo Dannlowski, Nils Opel, Tim Hahn
Summary: This large-scale study found that most of the previous resting-state connectivity correlates of childhood maltreatment could not be replicated. The strongest evidence was found for clinically relevant maltreatment associations with altered adult amygdala-dorsolateral frontal connectivity in depression. Future studies should explore the relevance of this pathway for a maltreated subgroup of MDD patients.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Sophie J. Mueller, Vanessa Teckentrup, Ignacio Rebollo, Manfred Hallschmid, Nils B. Kroemer
Summary: This study investigated the acute increase of stomach-brain coupling by non-invasively stimulating vagal afferent projections to the brain. The results showed that the coupling between the stomach and brain was increased through the NTS-midbrain pathway, indicating the effective modulation of communication between the brain and the body by vago-vagal signaling. These findings may contribute to a better understanding of the role of vagal afferents in orchestrating the recruitment of the gastric network and could lead to the development of novel neuro-modulatory treatments.
Article
Psychiatry
Nils B. Kroemer, Nils Opel, Vanessa Teckentrup, Meng Li, Dominik Grotegerd, Susanne Meinert, Hannah Lemke, Tilo Kircher, Igor Nenadic, Axel Krug, Andreas Jansen, Jens Sommer, Olaf Steinstraeter, Dana M. Small, Udo Dannlowski, Martin Walter
Summary: This study aims to define the functional architecture of the reward circuit in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and examine its association with changes in appetite and body weight. The study utilizes resting-state functional connectivity (FC) and identifies specific biomarkers related to symptom severity and personalized prediction.
Review
Psychology, Biological
Corinna Schulz, Cecilia Vezzani, Nils B. Kroemer
Summary: Gastrointestinal hormones ghrelin and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) have opposite effects on metabolism and food intake. This study systematically evaluates the potential of ghrelin and GLP-1 to modulate reward responses in humans. The results suggest that ghrelin increases reward responses, while the effects of GLP-1 are inconsistent.
PHYSIOLOGY & BEHAVIOR
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alvise Dabala, Farid Dahdouh-Guebas, Daniel C. Dunn, Jason D. Everett, Catherine E. Lovelock, Jeffrey O. Hanson, Kristine Camille V. Buenafe, Sandra Neubert, Anthony J. Richardson
Summary: Anthropogenic activities pose a threat to global biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, current conservation efforts focus on biodiversity protection and overlook ecosystem services. This study demonstrates the importance of incorporating ecosystem services into protected area design, and highlights the potential benefits of strategic prioritization and coordination of mangrove conservation.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Editorial Material
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Nils B. Kroemer
Summary: As most studies have mainly focused on the effects of insulin in the brain on men, there is limited understanding of metabolic changes during the menstrual cycle in women. Hummel et al. found that insulin sensitivity is reduced during the luteal phase through intranasal insulin administration and functional MRI.
