ArticleBrain imaging and behavior2021
Modulation of visual processing of food by transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS).
Article in Brain imaging and behavior, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation may improve cognitive deficits in neuropsychiatric diseases-a systematic review.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Effect of vagus nerve stimulation on metabolism: a systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of neuroregulatory interventions upon weight in patients with mental illness: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.BMC psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation Effects on Flavor-Evoked Electroencephalogram and Eye-Blink Rate.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation in healthy individuals, stroke, and Parkinson's disease: a narrative review of safety, parameters, and efficacy.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Review
- Autonomic neuromodulation for cardiomyopathy associated with metabolic syndrome - Prevention of precursors for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2024Review
- A Prospect to Ameliorate Affective Symptoms and to Enhance Cognition in Long COVID Using Auricular Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Improves Spatial Working Memory in Healthy Young Adults.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Present project is concerned with the possibility to modulate the neural regulation of food intake by non-invasive stimulation of the vagus nerve. This nerve carries viscero-afferent information from the gut and other internal organs and therefore serves an important role in ingestive behavior. The electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve (VNS) is a qualified procedure in the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy and depression. Since weight loss is a known common side effect of VNS treatment in patients with implanted devices, VNS is evaluated as a treatment of obesity. To investigate potential VNS-related changes in the cognitive processing of food-related items, 21 healthy participants were recorded in a 3-Tesla scanner in two counterbalanced sessions. Participants were presented with 72 food pictures and asked to rate how much they liked that food. Before entering the scanner subjects received a 1-h sham or verum stimulation, which was implemented transcutanously with a Cerbomed NEMOS® device. We found significant activations in core areas of the vagal afferent pathway, including left brainstem, thalamus, temporal pole, amygdala, insula, hippocampus, and supplementary motor area for the interaction between ratings (high vs low) and session (verum vs sham stimulation). Significant activations were also found for the main effect of verum compared to sham stimulation in the left inferior and superior parietal cortex. These results demonstrate an effect of tVNS on food image processing even with a preceding short stimulation period. This is a necessary prerequisite for a therapeutic application of tVNS which has to be evaluated in longer-term studies.
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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.