Observational studyNeonatology2017
Electrical Grounding Improves Vagal Tone in Preterm Infants.
Observational study in Neonatology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05050812 (The Grounded Brain), which is not on this map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Grounded Brain: How Sleeping Grounded (Earthing) Affects Cognition and Personal Perceptions in Participants With Mild Cognitive Impairment Due to Alzheimer's Disease (MCI/AD)
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Review on the Vagus Nerve and Autonomic Nervous System During Fetal Development: Searching for Critical Windows.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Fiat Lux: Light and Pedagogy for the 21st Century.Annals of neurosciences · 2023Article
- Grounding - The universal anti-inflammatory remedy.Biomedical journal · 2023Review
- Illnesses in technologically advanced societies due to lack of grounding (earthing).Biomedical journal · 2023Review
- Practical applications of grounding to support health.Biomedical journal · 2023Review
- Neonatal heart rate variability: a contemporary scoping review of analysis methods and clinical applications.BMJ open · 2021Article
- Emotion Recognition Based on Skin Potential Signals with a Portable Wireless Device.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Heart Rate Variability in the Perinatal Period: A Critical and Conceptual Review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLow vagal tone (VT) is a marker of vulnerability to stress and the risk of developing necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants. Electric fields produced by equipment in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) induce an electric potential measurable on the skin in reference to ground. An electrical connection to ground reduces the skin potential and improves VT in adults.
objectivesWe aimed to measure the electric field strengths in the NICU environment and to determine if connecting an infant to electrical ground would reduce the skin potential and improve VT. We also wished to determine if the skin potential correlated with VT.
methodsEnvironmental magnetic flux density (MFD) was measured in and around incubators. Electrical grounding (EG) was achieved with a patch electrode and wire that extended to a ground outlet. We measured the skin potential in 26 infants and heart rate variability in 20 infants before, during, and after grounding. VT was represented by the high-frequency power of heart rate variability.
resultsThe background MFD in the NICU was below 0.5 mG, but it ranged between 1.5 and 12.7 mG in the closed incubator. A 60-Hz oscillating potential was recorded on the skin of all infants. With EG, the skin voltage dropped by about 95%. Pre-grounding VT was inversely correlated with the skin potential. VT increased by 67% with EG. After grounding, the VT fell to the pre-grounding level.
conclusionThe electrical environment affects autonomic balance. EG improves VT and may improve resilience to stress and lower the risk of neonatal morbidity in preterm infants.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.