ArticleNeuron2022
Vagus nerve stimulation drives selective circuit modulation through cholinergic reinforcement.
Article in Neuron, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06294509 (Feasibility and Effects of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Timings in a Sensorimotor Task), which is not on this map. Cited by 80 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Feasibility and Effects of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Timings in a Sensorimotor Task
Who cites it
80 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 121 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Movement Disorders, from Principles to a Systematic Review of Evidence.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2025Pooled it
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation during short-term motor practice drives cortical plasticity without behavioural improvement.The Journal of physiology · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Evidence of bottom-up homeostatic modulation induced taVNS during emotional and Go/No-Go tasks.Experimental brain research · 2024Trial
- Non-invasive stimulation of the human striatum disrupts reinforcement learning of motor skills.Nature human behaviour · 2024Trial
- Transcutaneous cervical vagus nerve stimulation improves sensory performance in humans: a randomized controlled crossover pilot study.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Review
- Vagal nerve stimulation induces vascular oscillations and enhances long-term learning.iScience · 2026Article
- Neurorehabilitation in the 21st Century: New Science, New Strategies, New Expectations.Neurorehabilitation and neural repair · 2026Review
- Neuromodulation techniques targeting neurotransmitter dysfunction: Innovation in treatments for Alzheimer's disease.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- The use of quantitative electroencephalography in evaluating epilepsy treatment.Acta epileptologica · 2026Review
- A brainstem pathway underlying vagal modulation of somatic pain and affective states.Nature neuroscience · 2026Article
- Motor Recovery After a Hemispherectomy: Review of Mechanisms and the Potential of Neuromodulation to Enhance Motor Outcomes.Journal of child neurology · 2026Review
- Tissue-adhesive hydrogel optical fiber for peripheral optogenetic neuromodulation.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Right vagus nerve stimulation promotes motor cortical plasticity.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Closed-loop movement-paired transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation for upper-limb rehabilitation: a feasibility study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Neuromodulation: Evolution from Bench to Bedside.Neurology international · 2026Article
- Auricular vagus nerve stimulation drives analgesia via an auricle-brain axis in a mouse model of neuropathic pain.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Long-term vagus nerve stimulation synergized with rapamycin elicits neuroimmune modulation to prolong skin allograft survival.iScience · 2026Article
- Dynamic cholinergic signaling differentially desynchronizes cortical microcircuits dependent on modulation rate and network connectivity.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a neuromodulation therapy for a broad and expanding set of neurologic conditions. However, the mechanism through which VNS influences central nervous system circuitry is not well described, limiting therapeutic optimization. VNS leads to widespread brain activation, but the effects on behavior are remarkably specific, indicating plasticity unique to behaviorally engaged neural circuits. To understand how VNS can lead to specific circuit modulation, we leveraged genetic tools including optogenetics and in vivo calcium imaging in mice learning a skilled reach task. We find that VNS enhances skilled motor learning in healthy animals via a cholinergic reinforcement mechanism, producing a rapid consolidation of an expert reach trajectory. In primary motor cortex (M1), VNS drives precise temporal modulation of neurons that respond to behavioral outcome. This suggests that VNS may accelerate motor refinement in M1 via cholinergic signaling, opening new avenues for optimizing VNS to target specific disease-relevant circuitry.
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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.