Transcutaneous Vagus and Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation

Colzato, Lorenza S.; Vonck, Kristl

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-57505-6_9

Cited by 10 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…It is also worth considering an alternative, but not necessarily mutually exclusive mechanism through which TMS could exert autonomic influences is through the cranial nerves which are stimulated during the delivery of magnetic pulses. In this case, afferent projections of the trigeminal nerves to the brainstem could also indirectly engage autonomic pathways (Colzato and Vonck, 2017;De Cicco et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theta-burst stimulation and frontotemporal regulation of cardiovascular autonomic outputs: The role of state anxiety

Poppa

Witte

Vanderhasselt

et al. 2020

International Journal of Psychophysiology

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Dysregulation of autonomic cardiovascular homeostasis is an important cardiological and neurological risk factor. Cortical regions including the prefrontal and insular cortices exert tonic control over cardiovascular autonomic functions. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) may be a suitable approach for studying topdown control of visceromotor processes. However, there is inconsistent evidence as to whether TMS can modify cardiovascular autonomic states. One reason for the inconsistency may arise from the lack of studies accounting for the acute affective states of participants with respect to the stimulation procedures. To gain more insights into these processes, we evaluated the effects of intermittent and continuous theta-burst stimulation (TBS) to the right frontotemporal cortex on state anxiety and cardiovascular responses in a preliminary study. State anxiety significantly increased for both intermittent and continuous TBS relative to sham. Intermittent TBS also significantly increased heart-rate variability (HRV) at natural and slow-paced breathing rates. The effect of intermittent TBS on vagally-mediated HRV was attenuated after accounting for stimulation-induced anxiety, suggesting that increased HRV after stimulation may reflect a response to a transient stressor (i.e., the stimulation itself), rather than TBS effects on visceromotor networks. In contrast, continuous TBS increased pulse transit time latency across breathing rates, an effect that was enhanced after accounting for state anxiety. TMS is a promising approach to study cortical involvement in cardiovascular autonomic regulation. The findings show that TBS induces effects on visceromotor networks, and that analysis of state covariates such as anxiety can be important for increasing the precision of these estimates. Future non-invasive brain stimulation studies of topdown neurocardiac regulation should account for the potential influence of non-specific arousal or anxiety responses to stimulation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theta-burst stimulation and frontotemporal regulation of cardiovascular autonomic outputs: The role of state anxiety

Poppa

Witte

Vanderhasselt

et al. 2020

International Journal of Psychophysiology

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) is a noninvasive technology used to electrically modulate vagal activity and consequently brain activity via afferent vagal pathways [1]. Because of its safety and the absence of major side effects [1,2], tVNS has been applied in both research and therapy as a medical treatment tool. In recent years, this research field has seen a noteworthy growth through studies investigating how tVNS positively affects cognitive [3], affective [4], and neurophysiological [5] processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The tVNS’ mechanism of action can be explained by considering the neuroanatomical pathways of the vagus nerve. The electrical signal, starting in the auricular branch of the vagus nerve, reaches the nucleus tractus solitarius, which is a crucial structure that projects to a variety of brain areas, for instance the locus coeruleus [1]. Locus coeruleus is the primary source of norepinephrine in the brain [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

2019

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The present study investigated the effects of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on cardiac vagal activity, the activity of the vagus nerve regulating cardiac functioning. We applied stimulation on the left cymba conchae and tested the effects of different stimulation intensities on a vagally-mediated heart rate variability pagerameter (i.e., the root mean square of successive differences) as well as on subjective ratings of strength of perceived stimulation intensity and unpleasantness due to the stimulation. Three experiments (within-subject designs, M = 61 healthy participants each) were carried out: In Experiment 1, to choose one fixed stimulation intensity for the subsequent studies, we compared three preset stimulation intensities (i.e., 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 mA) with each other. In Experiment 2, we compared the set stimulation method with the free stimulation method, in which the participants were instructed to freely choose an intensity. In Experiment 3, to control for placebo effects, we compared both methods (i.e., set stimulation vs. free stimulation) with their respective sham stimulations. In the three experiments, an increase of cardiac vagal activity was found from resting to the stimulation phases. However, this increase in cardiac vagal activity was not dependent on stimulation intensity (Experiment 1), the method used to stimulate (i.e., set vs. free; Experiment 2), or whether stimulation was active or sham (Experiment 3). This pattern of results was solidly supported by Bayesian estimations. On the subjective level, higher stimulation intensities were perceived as significantly stronger and a stronger stimulation was generally also perceived as more unpleasant. The results suggest that cardiac vagal activity may be similarly influenced by afferent vagal stimuli triggered by active and sham stimulation with different stimulation intensities. Potential explanations for these findings and its implications for future research with tVNS are discussed.

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“…Thus, altogether it is plausible to assume that VNS directly affects LC activity and results in the release of NE (cf. Colzato & Vonck, 2017;George & Aston-Jones, 2010;see McIntyre, McGaugh, & Williams, 2012, for a review). In addition to the activation of the LC-NE system, VNS can also, when applied for longer duration, increase GABA levels (Ben-Menachem et al, 1995).…”

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confidence: 99%

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) enhances conflict-triggered adjustment of cognitive control

Fischer

Ventura‐Bort

Hamm

et al. 2018

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

103

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Response conflicts play a prominent role in the flexible adaptation of behavior as they represent context-signals that indicate the necessity for the recruitment of cognitive control. Previous studies have highlighted the functional roles of the affectively aversive and arousing quality of the conflict signal in triggering the adaptation process. To further test this potential link with arousal, participants performed a response conflict task in two separate sessions with either transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS), which is assumed to activate the locus coeruleus-noradrenaline (LC-NE) system, or with neutral sham stimulation. In both sessions the N2 and P3 event-related potentials (ERP) were assessed. In line with previous findings, conflict interference, the N2 and P3 amplitude were reduced after conflict. Most importantly, this adaptation to conflict was enhanced under tVNS compared to sham stimulation for conflict interference and the N2 amplitude. No effect of tVNS on the P3 component was found. These findings suggest that tVNS increases behavioral and electrophysiological markers of adaptation to conflict. Results are discussed in the context of the potentially underlying LC-NE and other neuromodulatory (e.g., GABA) systems. The present findings add important pieces to the understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms of conflict-triggered adjustment of cognitive control.

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Transcutaneous Vagus and Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation

Cited by 10 publications

References 66 publications

Theta-burst stimulation and frontotemporal regulation of cardiovascular autonomic outputs: The role of state anxiety

Theta-burst stimulation and frontotemporal regulation of cardiovascular autonomic outputs: The role of state anxiety

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

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) enhances conflict-triggered adjustment of cognitive control

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