Trial reportScientific reports2021
Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation induces stabilizing modifications in large-scale functional brain networks: towards understanding the effects of taVNS in subjects with epilepsy.
Trial report in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation may improve cognitive deficits in neuropsychiatric diseases-a systematic review.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- User involvement in the design and development of medical devices in epilepsy: A systematic review.Epilepsia open · 2024Pooled it
- Article
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation: mechanisms, applications, and research progress.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Non-invasive neuromodulation for drug-resistant epilepsy: a contemporary structured review of mechanisms, clinical evidence and future directions.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Review
- Acute transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation modulates presynaptic SV2A density in healthy rat brain: An in vivo microPET study.Psychophysiology · 2025Article
- Review
- Feasibility and effectiveness of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) in awake mice.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2024Article
- Investigating neuromodulatory effect of transauricular vagus nerve stimulation on resting-state electroencephalography.Biomedical engineering letters · 2024Article
- Long COVID as a Tauopathy: Of "Brain Fog" and "Fusogen Storms".International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- The time-evolving epileptic brain network: concepts, definitions, accomplishments, perspectives.Frontiers in network physiology · 2023Review
- Modifying functional brain networks in focal epilepsy by manual visceral-osteopathic stimulation of the vagus nerve at the abdomen.Frontiers in network physiology · 2023Article
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation in poststroke cognitive impairment: protocol for a randomised controlled trial.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Stimulation-related modifications of evolving functional brain networks in unresponsive wakefulness.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Modifications of Functional Human Brain Networks by Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Impact of Time of Day.Brain sciences · 2022Article
- Non-Invasive Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation for the Treatment of Fibromyalgia Symptoms: A Study Protocol.Brain sciences · 2022Article
- Electrodermal Activity Biofeedback Alters Evolving Functional Brain Networks in People With Epilepsy, but in a Non-specific Manner.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
- Perspectives on Understanding Aberrant Brain Networks in Epilepsy.Frontiers in network physiology · 2022Article
- Immediate Modulation of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Differently Modifies Functional Brain Networks of Subjects With Different Epilepsy Types.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is a novel non-invasive brain stimulation technique considered as a potential supplementary treatment option for subjects with refractory epilepsy. Its exact mechanism of action is not yet fully understood. We developed an examination schedule to probe for immediate taVNS-induced modifications of large-scale epileptic brain networks and accompanying changes of cognition and behaviour. In this prospective trial, we applied short-term (1 h) taVNS to 14 subjects with epilepsy during a continuous 3-h EEG recording which was embedded in two standardized neuropsychological assessments. From these EEG, we derived evolving epileptic brain networks and tracked important topological, robustness, and stability properties of networks over time. In the majority of investigated subjects, taVNS induced measurable and persisting modifications in network properties that point to a more resilient epileptic brain network without negatively impacting cognition, behaviour, or mood. The stimulation was well tolerated and the usability of the device was rated good. Short-term taVNS has a topology-modifying, robustness- and stability-enhancing immediate effect on large-scale epileptic brain networks. It has no detrimental effects on cognition and behaviour. Translation into clinical practice requires further studies to detail knowledge about the exact mechanisms by which taVNS prevents or inhibits seizures.
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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.