Exploration of the Impact of Brief Noninvasive Vagal Nerve Stimulation on EEG and Event-Related Potentials

Lewine, Jeffrey D.; Paulson, Kim; Bangera, Nitin; Simon, Bruce J.

doi:10.1111/ner.12864

Cited by 46 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 89 publications

(132 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Previous tVNS studies. Our finding that tVNS attenuates alpha oscillations is compatible with some recent studies (Bodin et al, 2015;Lewine et al, 2019) while other studies reported mixed results or could not reveal EEG effects (Hammond et al, 1992;Salinsky and Burchiel, 1993).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Alpha oscillations are believed to represent an "idling" state of cortical activity (Steriade, 2001;Palva and Palva, 2007) that is expected to be anti-correlated with arousal-promoting activity, such as that of the LC-NE system, and bias sensory perception (Waschke et al, 2019). A recent study that used long 2min tVNS on the neck also found that tVNS attenuates alpha and theta oscillation (Lewine et al, 2019).…”

Section: Vnsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

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

Sharon

Fahoum

Nir

2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Vagus 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) that receives afferent vagal inputs. In rats, VNS elevates LC firing and forebrain noradrenaline (NE) levels, whereas LC lesions suppress VNS therapeutic efficacy. Non-invasive transcutaneous VNS (tVNS) employs electrical stimulation targeting the auricular branch of the vagus nerve at the Cymba Conchae of the ear, but it remains unclear to what extent tVNS mimics VNS. 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, comparing 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 how tVNS modulates idle occipital alpha (8-13Hz) activity, identified in each participant using parallel factor analysis. We found that tVNS attenuates alpha oscillations to a greater extent than does sham stimulation. Thus, tVNS reliably induces pupillary and EEG markers of arousal beyond the effects of somatosensory stimulation, supporting the hypothesis that it elevates noradrenaline and acetylcholine signaling and mimics invasive VNS.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Vnsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Sharon

Fahoum

Nir

2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…First, VNS leads to an activation of several brainstem and cerebellar nuclei [ 25 ], some of which have strong effects on SD threshold [ 26 ]. Second, VNS triggers the release of neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and serotonin from brainstem nuclei [ 27 – 29 ], which attenuate the propensity for SDs [ 30 , 31 ]. Third, VNS reduces the release of glutamate as well as several pro-inflammatory cytokines [ 32 – 34 ], all of which promote the development of SDs [ 12 , 35 , 36 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vagus nerve stimulation reduces spreading depolarization burden and cortical infarct volume in a rat model of stroke

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cortical spreading depolarization (SD) waves negatively affect neuronal survival and outcome after ischemic stroke. We here aimed to investigate the effects of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) on SDs in a rat model of focal ischemia. To this end, we delivered non-invasive VNS (nVNS) or invasive VNS (iVNS) during permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and found that both interventions significantly reduced the frequency of SDs in the cortical peri-infarct area compared to sham VNS, without affecting relative blood flow changes, blood pressure, heart rate or breathing rate. In separate groups of rats subjected to transient MCAO, we found that cortical stroke volume was reduced 72 h after transient MCAO, whereas stroke volume in the basal ganglia remained unchanged. In rats treated with nVNS, motor outcome was improved 2 days after transient MCAO, but was similar to sham VNS animals 3 days after ischemia. We postulate that VNS may be a safe and efficient intervention to reduce the clinical burden of SD waves in stroke and other conditions.

show abstract

“…These Stimulus-driven event-related potentials and vagus-sensory evoked potentials in electroencephalogram, fMRI and HRV are potential biomarkers as well. 34,[55][56][57] In some clinical studies, a simple reduction in heart rate is considered a marker of parasympathetic activation. 29 Individual…”

Section: Next Stepsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-invasive Low-level Tragus Stimulation in Cardiovascular Diseases

Jiang

Amil

et al. 2020

Arrhythm Electrophysiol Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Low-level tragus stimulation (LLTS) is a non-invasive approach of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation. LLTS has applications in diseases of multiple systems, including epilepsy, depression, headache and potentially several cardiovascular diseases. LLTS has shown promising results in suppressing AF, alleviating post-MI ventricular arrhythmias and ischaemia-reperfusion injury along with improving diastolic parameters in heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (HFpEF). Preliminary pilot clinical studies in patients with paroxysmal AF, HFpEF, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and acute MI have demonstrated promising results. The beneficial effects are likely secondary to favourable alteration of the sympathovagal imbalance. On-going exploratory work focused on underlying mechanisms of LLTS in cardiovascular disease states and larger scale clinical trials will shed more light on the non-invasive modulation of the neuro-immune axis.

show abstract

Exploration of the Impact of Brief Noninvasive Vagal Nerve Stimulation on EEG and Event-Related Potentials

Cited by 46 publications

References 89 publications

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

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

Vagus nerve stimulation reduces spreading depolarization burden and cortical infarct volume in a rat model of stroke

Non-invasive Low-level Tragus Stimulation in Cardiovascular Diseases

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About