Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29128975›Full record

Trial reportExperimental brain research2018

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) modulates flow experience.

Lorenza S Colzato, Gina Wolters, Corinna Peifer

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Experimental brain research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

24 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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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

3 authors.

Lorenza S ColzatoCognitive Psychology Unit and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands. colzato@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.
Gina WoltersUnit Applied Psychology in Work, Health, and Development, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Corinna PeiferUnit Applied Psychology in Work, Health, and Development, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Flow has been defined as a pleasant psychological state that people experience when completely absorbed in an activity. Previous correlative evidence showed that the vagal tone (as indexed by heart rate variability) is a reliable marker of flow. So far, it has not yet been demonstrated that the vagus nerve plays a causal role in flow. To explore this we used transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS), a novel non-invasive brain stimulation technique that increases activation of the locus coeruleus (LC) and norepinephrine release. A sham/placebo-controlled, randomized cross-over within-subject design was employed to infer a causal relation between the stimulated vagus nerve and flow as measured using the Flow Short-Scale in 32 healthy young volunteers. In both sessions, while being stimulated, participants had to rate their flow experience after having performed a task for 30 min. Active tVNS, compared to sham stimulation, decreased flow (as indexed by absorption scores). The results can be explained by the network reset theory, which assumes that high-phasic LC activity promotes a global reset of attention over exploitation of the current focus of attention, allowing rapid behavioral adaptation and resulting in decreased absorption scores. Furthermore, our findings corroborate the hypothesis that the vagus nerve and noradrenergic system are causally involved in flow.

Indexed as

Transcutaneous Electric Nerve StimulationVagus Nerve StimulationAdolescentAdultAttentionCross-Over StudiesFemaleHeart RateHumansLocus CoeruleusMaleNorepinephrinePsychomotor PerformanceSingle-Blind MethodVagus NerveYoung AdultNorepinephrineFlow experienceLocus coeruleusNetwork reset theoryNorepinephrineParasympathetic activationTranscutaneous vagus nerve stimulation

Identifiers

PMID29128975

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.