ArticlePloS one2022
Circadian stage-dependent and stimulation duration effects of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on heart rate variability.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 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.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- The heart knows best: baseline heart rate variability as guide to transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation in depression.Translational psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Non-Invasive Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Decreases Heart Rate Variability Independent of Caloric Load.Psychophysiology · 2025Trial
- A novel transcutaneous auricular neurostimulation electrode configuration for treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding: an open-label trial.Bioelectronic medicine · 2026Article
- A Review of Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Disease: Comprehensive Theory and Evidence for Mechanisms of Action.Comprehensive physiology · 2026Review
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation: mechanisms, applications, and research progress.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Tongue Muscle Training App for Middle-Aged and Older Adults Incorporating Flow-Based Gameplay: Design and Feasibility Pilot Study.JMIR serious games · 2025Article
- The chronobiology of human heart failure: clinical implications and therapeutic opportunities.Heart failure reviews · 2025Review
- 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
- Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation: a bibliometric study on current research hotspots and status.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Review
- 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 the treatment of disorders of consciousness: mechanisms and applications.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) can improve autonomic nerve function and is currently undergoing extensive clinical research; however, its efficacy heterogeneity has caused great controversy. Heart rate variability (HRV), a biomarker reflecting autonomic function, exhibits a time-varying pattern with circadian rhythms, which may be the main reason for the inconsistent stimulation effects. To test this conjecture, we performed isochronous acute stimulation experiments at intervals of 12 h. The results showed that HRV indicators representing vagal nerve activity significantly increased when stimulation was performed in the morning, and the enhancement of high frequency continued into the recovery period. However, the evening stimulation did not yield similar results. In addition, we found that improvements in the measures of autonomic balance were more pronounced in the presence of lower vagal activity. By increasing the stimulation duration, we also found that the effect of taVNS on HRV was not regulated by duration; in other words, HRV changes only had the best effect at the beginning of stimulation. These studies allowed us to determine the optimal stimulation phase and duration and potentially screen the optimal candidates for taVNS.
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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.