Trial reportBrain stimulation
Quantifying acute physiological biomarkers of transcutaneous cervical vagal nerve stimulation in the context of psychological stress.
Trial report in Brain stimulation. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 88 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in World Trade Center Responders: A Feasibility and Acceptability Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Trial
- Effects of taVNS on physiological responses and cognitive performance during a mental stressor.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2025Trial
- The Effects of a Single Vagus Nerve's Neurodynamics on Heart Rate Variability in Chronic Stress: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Trial
- Transcutaneous cervical vagus nerve stimulation improves sensory performance in humans: a randomized controlled crossover pilot study.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation modulates stress-induced plasma ghrelin levels: A double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial.Journal of affective disorders · 2023Trial
- Vagus activation by Cold Face Test reduces acute psychosocial stress responses.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- Robust Estimation of Respiratory Variability Uncovers Correlates of Limbic Brain Activity and Transcutaneous Cervical Vagus Nerve Stimulation in the Context of Traumatic Stress.IEEE transactions on bio-medical engineering · 2022Trial
- Digital Cardiovascular Biomarker Responses to Transcutaneous Cervical Vagus Nerve Stimulation: State-Space Modeling, Prediction, and Simulation.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2020Trial
- Effect and Safety of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Recovery of Upper Limb Motor Function in Subacute Ischemic Stroke Patients: A Randomized Pilot Study.Neural plasticity · 2020Trial
- Timing Considerations for Noninvasive Vagal Nerve Stimulation in Clinical Studies.AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium · 2019Trial
- Non-invasive vagal nerve stimulation decreases brain activity during trauma scripts.Brain stimulationTrial
- Trial
- Autonomic and neural responses to varying transcutaneous cervical electrical stimulation parameters.Bioelectronic medicine · 2026Article
- Computational Insights Into Smart Bioelectronics in Digital Health Care (2020-2024): Topic Modeling Study.JMIR medical informatics · 2026Review
- 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
- Acute psychological stress facilitates the forgetting of neutral but not negative information.Psychological research · 2025Article
- Toward Ambulatory Baroreflex Sensitivity: Comparison Between Indices of Arterial Line and Photoplethysmography in Male Volunteers.JMIR cardio · 2025Article
- Non-Pharmacological Mitigation of Acute Mental Stress-Induced Sympathetic Arousal: Comparison Between Median Nerve Stimulation and Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Accrued reductions in heart rate following transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation in adults with posttraumatic stress disorder.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- Acute and long-term effects of COVID-19 on brain and mental health: A narrative review.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundStress is associated with activation of the sympathetic nervous system, and can lead to lasting alterations in autonomic function and in extreme cases symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) is a potentially useful tool as a modulator of autonomic nervous system function, however currently available implantable devices are limited by cost and inconvenience.
objectiveThe purpose of this study was to assess the effects of transcutaneous cervical VNS (tcVNS) on autonomic responses to stress.
methodsUsing a double-blind approach, we investigated the effects of active or sham tcVNS on peripheral cardiovascular and autonomic responses to stress using wearable sensing devices in 24 healthy human participants with a history of exposure to psychological trauma. Participants were exposed to acute stressors over a three-day period, including personalized scripts of traumatic events, public speech, and mental arithmetic tasks.
resultstcVNS relative to sham applied immediately after traumatic stress resulted in a decrease in sympathetic function and modulated parasympathetic/sympathetic autonomic tone as measured by increased pre-ejection period (PEP) of the heart (a marker of cardiac sympathetic function) of 4.2 ms (95% CI 1.6-6.8 ms, p < 0.01), decreased peripheral sympathetic function as measured by increased photoplethysmogram (PPG) amplitude (decreased vasoconstriction) by 47.9% (1.4-94.5%, p < 0.05), a 9% decrease in respiratory rate (-14.3 to -3.7%, p < 0.01). Similar effects were seen when tcVNS was applied after other stressors and in the absence of a stressor.
conclusionWearable sensing modalities are feasible to use in experiments in human participants, and tcVNS modulates cardiovascular and peripheral autonomic responses to stress.
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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.