ArticleNeurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics2023
The Effects of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Functional Connectivity Within Semantic and Hippocampal Networks in Mild Cognitive Impairment.
Article in Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 3 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
36 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vagus Nerve Stimulation in the Management of Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Systematic Review of Advances in Animal Research and Clinical Applications.Current Alzheimer research · 2026Pooled it
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation may improve cognitive deficits in neuropsychiatric diseases-a systematic review.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in improving cognitive function in older adults with cognitive impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Rs-fMRI reveals that taVNS improves cognitive and emotional function in mild cognitive impairment by reconfiguration of "sensory relay-salience-default" cross-network effective connectivity: a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Trial
- Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Reduces Postoperative Delirium After Major Non-Cardiac Surgery in Elderly Patients.Clinical interventions in aging · 2026Trial
- Influence of a 2-week transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on memory: findings from a randomized placebo controlled trial in non-clinical adults.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2024Trial
- Advances in Targeting Central Cholinergic Dysfunction for Neurodegenerative Diseases: From Pharmacotherapy to Neuromodulation.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Review
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation during a 3-back task: a high-density functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.Experimental brain research · 2026Article
- From brain waves to heartbeats: Exploring the combined role of electroencephalography and heart-rate variability in Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and management.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2026Review
- Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment: Current Evidence and Future Directions.NeuroSci · 2026Review
- A Review of Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Disease: Comprehensive Theory and Evidence for Mechanisms of Action.Comprehensive physiology · 2026Review
- Effects of noninvasive brain stimulation on motor functions in animal models of ischemia and trauma in the central nervous system.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- High-frequency taVNS modulates olfaction-related brain activity in patients with subjective cognitive decline.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Acute taVNS modulates lateralized hypoactivity in the right cerebral hemisphere in individuals with subjective cognitive decline.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- Therapeutic potential of vagus nerve stimulation in neurodegenerative diseases: research progress and mechanisms.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Treating Emotional Dysregulation and Inflammation in Common Neuropsychiatric Disorders.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Article
- Exploring the impact of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in subjects with and without burnout: Potential benefits for executive function and neural processing.Neuroimage. Reports · 2025Article
- Review
- A Systems Biology Approach to Memory Health: Integrating Network Pharmacology, Gut Microbiota, and Multi-Omics for Health Functional Foods.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Better treatments are needed to improve cognition and brain health in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) may impact brain networks relevant to AD through multiple mechanisms including, but not limited to, projection to the locus coeruleus, the brain's primary source of norepinephrine, and reduction in inflammation. Neuropathological data suggest that the locus coeruleus may be an early site of tau pathology in AD. Thus, tVNS may modify the activity of networks that are impaired and progressively deteriorate in patients with MCI and AD. Fifty patients with MCI (28 women) confirmed via diagnostic consensus conference prior to MRI (sources of info: Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test (MOCA), Clinical Dementia Rating scale (CDR), Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ), Hopkins Verbal Learning Test - Revised (HVLT-R) and medical record review) underwent resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on a Siemens 3 T scanner during tVNS (left tragus, n = 25) or sham control conditions (left ear lobe, n = 25). During unilateral left tVNS, compared with ear lobe stimulation, patients with MCI showed alterations in functional connectivity between regions of the brain that are important in semantic and salience functions including regions of the temporal and parietal lobes. Furthermore, connectivity from hippocampi to several cortical and subcortical clusters of ROIs also demonstrated change with tVNS compared with ear lobe stimulation. In conclusion, tVNS modified the activity of brain networks in which disruption correlates with deterioration in AD. These findings suggest afferent target engagement of tVNS, which carries implications for the development of noninvasive therapeutic intervention in the MCI population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.