ReviewPsychopharmacology2019
Vagus nerve stimulation as a tool for enhancing extinction in exposure-based therapies.
Review in Psychopharmacology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A Systematic Review of Noninvasive Brain Stimulation for Opioid Use Disorder.Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society · 2020Pooled it
- Electroceutical enhancement of self-compassion training using transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation: results from a preregistered fully factorial randomized controlled trial.Psychological medicine · 2025Trial
- Non-invasive vagal nerve stimulation decreases brain activity during trauma scripts.Brain stimulationTrial
- A pilot study of brain correlates of long-term treatment with transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation in posttraumatic stress disorder.Journal of affective disorders reports · 2026Article
- Minimally invasive, wide-field two-photon imaging of the brainstem at cellular resolution.Cell reports methods · 2025Article
- Ready for translation: non-invasive auricular vagus nerve stimulation inhibits psychophysiological indices of stimulus-specific fear and facilitates responding to repeated exposure in phobic individuals.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- Advice for translational neuroscience: move deliberately and build things.Bioelectronic medicine · 2025Article
- Gut-brain axis in post-traumatic stress disorder: microbial - mediated mechanisms and new therapeutic approaches - A narrative review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Vagus nerve stimulation for chronic pain management: Mechanisms and clinical advances.Journal of biological methods · 2025Review
- Enhancing Agency in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Therapies Through Sensorimotor Technologies.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Article
- REM disruption and REM Vagal Activity Predict Extinction Recall in Trauma-Exposed Individuals.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A State-of-the-art Review.Current neuropharmacology · 2024Review
- Attenuated interoceptive processing in individuals with major depressive disorder and high repetitive negative thinking.Journal of psychiatric research · 2022Article
- Know thy SEFL: Fear sensitization and its relevance to stressor-related disorders.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2022Review
- Timing of vagus nerve stimulation during fear extinction determines efficacy in a rat model of PTSD.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Stress and the "extended" autonomic system.Autonomic neuroscience : basic & clinical · 2021Review
- Transcutaneous Cervical Vagal Nerve Stimulation in Patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A Pilot Study of Effects on PTSD Symptoms and Interleukin-6 Response to Stress.Journal of affective disorders reports · 2021Article
- Direct and Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Treatment of Tinnitus: A Scoping Review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Article
- Sotalol Treatment may Interfere With Retrieval, Expression, and/or Reconsolidation Processes Thus Disrupting Traumatic Memories in a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Mice Model.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleEmotionally traumatic experiences can lead to maladaptive memories that are enduring and intrusive. The goal of exposure-based therapies is to extinguish conditioned fears through repeated, unreinforced exposures to reminders of traumatic events. The extinction of conditioned fear depends upon the consolidation of new memories made during exposure to reminders. An impairment in extinction recall, observed in certain patient populations, can interfere with progress in exposure-based therapies, and the drive to avoid thoughts and reminders of the trauma can undermine compliance and increase dropout rate. Effective adjuncts to exposure-based therapies should improve the consolidation and maintenance of the extinction memory or improve the tolerability of the therapy. Under stressful conditions, the vagus nerve responds to elevations in epinephrine and signals the brain to facilitate the storage of new memories while, as part of the parasympathetic nervous system, it slows the sympathetic response.
objectiveHere, we review studies relevant to fear extinction, describing the anatomical and functional characteristics of the vagus nerve and mechanisms of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)-induced memory enhancement and plasticity.
resultsWe propose that stimulation of the left cervical vagus nerve during exposure to conditioned cues signals the brain to store new memories just as epinephrine or emotional arousal would do, but bypasses the peripheral sympathetic "fight-or-flight" response.
conclusionsIn support of this hypothesis, we have found that VNS accelerates extinction and prevents reinstatement of conditioned fear in rats. Finally, we propose future studies targeting the optimization of stimulation parameters and the search for biomarkers of VNS effectiveness that may improve exposure therapy outcomes.
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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.