Vagus Nerve Stimulation Research

A vagal-to-sympathetic reflex controls lung vascular leak

The paper identifies a vagal-to-sympathetic reflex that regulates lung vascular leak, showing that activating specific vagal neurons increases fluid leakage and that silencing them reduces leak during allergen exposure.

Enhancing Visuomotor Reaction during Dark Transition via Model-Optimized Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation

This study uses model-optimized transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation to enhance visuomotor reaction during dark transitions by increasing pupil dilation and improving performance.

The vagus nerve drives cognitive function through the default mode network

This study shows that vagus nerve stimulation activates the default mode network, enhancing cognitive behaviors, while vagal-independent mechanisms affect the salience network.

Activation of α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Inhibits Neutrophil ex vivo Swarming and Pulmonary Recruitment in Inflamed Mice through an Integrin αMβ2-dependent Mechanism

This study shows that activating the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor inhibits neutrophil migration and lung recruitment in inflamed mice by suppressing integrin αMβ2 activation.

Vibrotactile transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) during working memory: convergent electrophysiological evidence for cortical efficiency

This study investigates how vibrotactile taVNS affects working memory by comparing cortical responses during N-back tasks, finding that it enhances cortical efficiency rather than amplifying responses.

Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation boosts evidence accumulation during perceptual decision-making

This study shows that transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) improves perceptual decision accuracy by enhancing evidence accumulation, particularly when applied early in a task.

Cholinergic impairment in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus during experimental Alzheimer's disease

This study shows age-dependent cholinergic deficits in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus in experimental Alzheimer's disease, leading to impaired vagus nerve function.

An Implantable Wireless Battery-Free Spatially Selective Vagus Nerve Stimulator

This paper develops a wireless battery-free implantable device for selective vagus nerve stimulation, demonstrating reduced off-target effects in pigs and a human trial.

Transcutaneous auricular Vagus nerve stimulation for working memory enhancement: A comparative study of electrical and ultrasound stimulation

This study compares the effects of electrical and ultrasound transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on working memory in healthy adults, finding that electrical stimulation significantly improves performance while ultrasound shows a similar trend but less statistical significance.

A standardized, surgically relevant map of emergence for organ-specific branches in the human vagus nerve

This paper creates a standardized map of vagus nerve branch emergence in humans, providing distances from anatomical landmarks to guide surgical device placement.

The Effect of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation (taVNS) on Cardiorespiratory Physiology: Four Waveforms Trial with Tragus vs Earlobe Stimulation

This study evaluates the acute effects of four taVNS configurations on cardiorespiratory physiology, finding that unilateral left 25 Hz tragus stimulation increases heart rate variability compared to earlobe control.

Non-invasive Vagal Nerve Stimulation as a Potential Treatment for Repetitive Blast Trauma

This study investigates non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for repetitive blast trauma in mice, finding reduced inflammation and behavioral changes but not all effects.

Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation modulates Pavlovian bias in a state-dependent manner

This study shows that non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation reduces Pavlovian response biases only after a caloric load, suggesting state-dependent modulation related to metabolic interoception.

Immune responses to infection modulate peripheral sympathetic neuron functions

The paper investigates how immune responses to infection affect peripheral sympathetic neuron functions, finding that cytokines and interferons alter nerve growth and neuron excitability.

Attenuation of Inflammatory Cytokines by Selective Vagal Motor Stimulation via Silicone Spiral Nerve Cuff

This study shows that optogenetic stimulation of cholinergic vagal neurons reduces pro-inflammatory cytokines, while glutamatergic stimulation does not, demonstrating the importance of pathway selectivity in vagus nerve stimulation.

Vagus nerve stimulation limits colonic inflammation through distinct neuroimmune circuitry shaped by inflammatory history

This paper shows that vagus nerve stimulation reduces colonic inflammation in mice, but only if the colon has a history of prior inflammation.

Divergent Behavioral and Circuit-Level Adaptations to Acute and Chronic Gastric Electrical Stimulation

This study examines the behavioral and circuit-level effects of acute and chronic gastric electrical stimulation in rodents, revealing context-dependent and temporally dynamic changes in anxiety-related behavior and neural activity.

Optogenetic activation of liver-innervating vagal sensory neurons increases anxiety-like behavior in mice.

This study shows that optogenetic activation of liver-innervating vagal sensory neurons increases anxiety-like behavior in mice by activating the NTS-LC circuit.

Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation enhances emotional bias towards happiness in healthy young adults: A comparative study of electrical and ultrasound stimulation

This study compares the effects of electrical and ultrasound transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on emotional bias in healthy adults, finding both methods enhance positive emotional interpretation.

Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation Reduces Pain and OA Progression in Mouse Models of Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis

Pulsed taVNS-elicited pupil dilation: effects of intermixed stimulation, sham location and respiratory phase

This study investigates whether pulsed taVNS can reliably elicit pupil dilation when intermixed with sham stimulation, finding mixed results depending on sham location and respiratory phase.

Vagal dopaminergic afferents link interoception to trigeminal pain modulation

This study shows that vagus nerve stimulation reduces TMD-related pain by activating dopaminergic vagal afferents that modulate trigeminal nociceptors.

Prevalence of sympathetic fibers within the rat cervical vagus, and functional consequence on physiological effects mediated by vagus nerve stimulation (VNS).

This study shows that sympathetic fibers are present in the rat cervical vagus nerve and that stimulating the vagus nerve can activate these fibers, leading to tachycardia rather than bradycardia.

Comparing Electrical and Ultrasound Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation (taVNS) on Associative Memory

This study compares electrical and ultrasound transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on associative memory, finding no improvement in recall accuracy but faster response times with electrical stimulation.

Vagus Nerve Stimulation Ameliorates Epilepsy via a Gut Microbiota-Butyrate-Vagus Nerve-Brain Axis

This paper shows that vagus nerve stimulation reduces seizures by altering gut microbiota and butyrate levels through a vagus nerve-dependent pathway.

Ultrasound transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation enhances semantic processing

Ultrasound-based taVNS improves semantic retrieval efficiency in healthy adults compared to sham and baseline.

Cortical potentials evoked by stimulation of cervical vagus vs. auricular nerve: a comparative, parametric study in nonhuman primates

This study compares cortical potentials evoked by cervical vagus and trans-auricular nerve stimulation in nonhuman primates, finding that cVNS produces more robust responses with distinct parameter effects.

Neural circuits between nodose ganglion and pulmonary neuroendocrine cells regulate lung inflammatory responses

Effects of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation on pupil dilation are dependent on sensory matching

This study investigates how non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation affects pupil dilation and finds that effects depend on differences in perceived sensation between stimulation and sham conditions.

Longitudinal Characterization of Compound Action Potentials in Chronic Vagus Nerve Recordings in Mice

This study characterizes longitudinal vagus nerve activity in mice over weeks, showing changes in compound action potentials under anesthesia and during wakefulness.