Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28892066›Full record

ArticleTranslational psychiatry2017

Effects of vagus nerve stimulation on extinction of conditioned fear and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in rats.

L J Noble, I J Gonzalez, V B Meruva, K A Callahan, B D Belfort, K R Ramanathan, E Meyers, M P Kilgard, R L Rennaker, C K McIntyre

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Translational psychiatry, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 70 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
70citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
6.2field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

70 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 121 citations in OpenAlex.

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  13. Therapeutic potential of slow pranayama in anxiety.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2025
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10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

L J NobleBehavior and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
I J GonzalezBehavior and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
V B MeruvaBehavior and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
K A CallahanBehavior and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
B D BelfortBehavior and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
K R RamanathanBehavior and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
E MeyersBehavior and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
M P KilgardBehavior and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
R L RennakerBehavior and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
C K McIntyreBehavior and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
The University of Texas at Dallas · US

Funding

An adjunct to prolonged exposure therapy for treating refractory PTSD patientsR43MH105014 · NIMH · MICROTRANSPONDER, INC. · PI ENGINEER, NAVZER, MCINTYRE, CHRISTA · 2016 to 2016
$224k
NIMH NIH HHS R43 MH105014
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Exposure-based therapies help patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to extinguish conditioned fear of trauma reminders. However, controlled laboratory studies indicate that PTSD patients do not extinguish conditioned fear as well as healthy controls, and exposure therapy has high failure and dropout rates. The present study examined whether vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) augments extinction of conditioned fear and attenuates PTSD-like symptoms in an animal model of PTSD. To model PTSD, rats were subjected to a single prolonged stress (SPS) protocol, which consisted of restraint, forced swim, loss of consciousness, and 1 week of social isolation. Like PTSD patients, rats subjected to SPS show impaired extinction of conditioned fear. The SPS procedure was followed, 1 week later, by auditory fear conditioning (AFC) and extinction. VNS or sham stimulation was administered during half of the extinction days, and was paired with presentations of the conditioned stimulus. One week after completion of extinction training, rats were given a battery of behavioral tests to assess anxiety, arousal and avoidance. Results indicated that rats given SPS 1 week prior to AFC (PTSD model) failed to extinguish the freezing response after eleven consecutive days of extinction. Administration of VNS reversed the extinction impairment and attenuated reinstatement of the conditioned fear response. Delivery of VNS during extinction also eliminated the PTSD-like symptoms, such as anxiety, hyperarousal and social avoidance for more than 1 week after VNS treatment. These results provide evidence that extinction paired with VNS treatment can lead to remission of fear and improvements in PTSD-like symptoms. Taken together, these findings suggest that VNS may be an effective adjunct to exposure therapy for the treatment of PTSD.

Indexed as

AnimalsAnxietyArousalBehavior, AnimalConditioning, ClassicalConditioning, PsychologicalDisease Models, AnimalExtinction, PsychologicalFearMaleRatsRats, Sprague-DawleyStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticStress, PsychologicalVagus Nerve Stimulation

Identifiers

PMID28892066
PMCPMC5611754
OpenAlexW2746053547

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.