ArticleFrontiers in neuroscience2020
Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation at 20 Hz Improves Depression-Like Behaviors and Down-Regulates the Hyperactivity of HPA Axis in Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress Model Rats.
Article in Frontiers in neuroscience, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 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
39 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 63 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prognostic and diagnostic utility of heart rate variability to predict and understand change in cancer and chemotherapy related fatigue, pain, and neuropathic symptoms: a systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Pooled it
- A randomized vagus nerve stimulation study demonstrates that serum aldosterone levels decrease with age in women, but not in men.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Vagus nerve stimulation in rheumatic diseases: linking autonomic nervous system regulation, inflammation, and clinical outcomes.Rheumatology international · 2026Review
- taVNS alleviates depressive-like and metabolic dysfunction in T2DD mice with modulation of hypothalamic 5-HT signaling.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Article
- Bridging the gap from mechanism to clinic: a translational perspective on taVNS for gastrointestinal disorders.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Noninvasive electrical neuromodulation involving vagus nerve mechanism for functional constipation and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.Therapeutic advances in gastroenterology · 2026Review
- Exendin-4 enhances GLP-1 signaling and reduces anxiety-like behaviors in male heroin withdrawal mice.PloS one · 2026Article
- Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in breast cancer: a neuroimmune model to improve quality of life.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS): a comprehensive review of mechanisms, clinical applications, and future directions.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Review
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation for major depressive disorder: current evidence and future research directions.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation: mechanisms, applications, and research progress.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Social Isolation Induces Sex-Specific Differences in Behavior and Gut Microbiota Composition in Stress-Sensitive Rats.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Restores Cognitive Impairment in Morphine-Withdrawn Rats: Role of BDNF and Glial Cells in the Hippocampus.Addiction biology · 2025Article
- Electroacupuncture stimulation of auricular concha region improves loss of control over stress induced depression-like behavior by modulating 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A receptor.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2025Article
- Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Stimulation Attenuates LPS-Induced Depression-Like Behavior by Regulating Central α7nAChR/JAK2 Signaling.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Article
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation as an innovative approach for managing perioperative gastrointestinal dysfunction: a narrative review.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Review
- Accrued reductions in heart rate following transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation in adults with posttraumatic stress disorder.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- Article
- Feasibility and effectiveness of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) in awake mice.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) has gained growing interest as a non-invasive and non-pharmacologic treatment option in various neurological and psychiatric disorders. Animal experiments and clinical trials confirm that taVNS at the auricular concha region has beneficial effects on depression. However, stimulation frequencies are selected empirically, and there is no evidence showing that any frequency is superior to the others. This study explores antidepressant-like effects of three frequencies of taVNS on rats subjected to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups, i.e., the control, CUMS, 5 Hz-taVNS, 20 Hz-taVNS, and 100 Hz-taVNS groups. The three different frequencies were administered during the 30-min taVNS procedure once a day for 28 consecutive days. Rats exposed to CUMS showed signs of depression-like behaviors, including reduction in sucrose preference and increased immobility time in forced swimming and open field tests as well as significant dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis as detected by plasma corticosterone and adrenocorticotropic hormone concentration. The 28 days' taVNS sessions with three frequencies elicited quite different consequences. Although 20 Hz taVNS significantly reversed the depression-like behaviors and downregulated the hyperactivity of the HPA axis, neither 5 nor 100 Hz showed any antidepressant-like effect on CUMS-induced rat behavior. Based on these results, we propose that, out of the three frequencies for taVNS intervention on depression, 20 Hz may be the optimized frequency to have a better modulation effect on HPA axis function by activating the auricular vagus nerve.
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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.