Trial reportBMC complementary medicine and therapies2024
Heart rate variability and cold-induced vascular dilation after stimulation of two different areas of the ear: a prospective, single-blinded, randomized crossover study.
Trial report in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04130893 (Response of the Autonomic Nervous System to Auricular Stimulation of the Vagus Nerve), which is not on this map. Cited by 4 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.
Response of the Autonomic Nervous System to Auricular Stimulation of the Vagus Nerve (x)
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation and exercise-induced autonomic regulation: a systematic review.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2026Pooled it
- Feasibility and Safety of a Single-Session of Transcutaneous Cervical Magnetic Stimulation, taVNS, and iTBS on Heart Rate Variability, Safety, and Pain Modulation.The European journal of neuroscience · 2025Trial
- Effects of auriculotherapy on urinary incontinence in men with prostate cancer: a randomized controlled trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Trial
- Bridging the gap from mechanism to clinic: a translational perspective on taVNS for gastrointestinal disorders.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBoth noninvasive transauricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) and traditional medical practice (TMP), such as auriculotherapy, use the auricle as a starting point for stimulation, but with two different conceptual frameworks: taVNS depends on vagal afferences to account for its effects, whereas TMP requires stimulation of the ear with high topographical accuracy regardless of the afferent nerves. The aim of this study was to measure heart rate variability (HRV) and cold water-induced vasodilation (CIVD) after puncturing two different ear points with the same afference but that should have opposite effects according to TMP.
methodsTen healthy subjects were investigated in this single-blinded crossover study over three sessions. In the first session, sympathetic activation was performed via cold water immersion of the right hand, with recordings taken from multiple fingers. HRV was assessed in the time domain (square root of the mean squared differences of NN intervals (RMSSD)) and frequency domain (low (LF) and high frequencies (HF)). In the second and third sessions, the same skin immersion test was performed, and mechanical stimulation was applied to the ear at two different points on the internal surface of the antitragus, one with alleged parasympathetic activity and the other with alleged sympathetic activity. The stimulation was done with semipermanent needles.
resultsStimulation of the point with alleged parasympathetic activity immediately resulted in a significant decrease in RMSSD in 75% of the subjects and in LF in 50% of the subjects, while stimulation of the point with alleged sympathetic activity resulted in an increase in HF and RMSSD in 50% of the subjects. Stimulation of these points did not affect the CIVD reflex. The 20 min cold water immersion induced an immediate decrease in LF and the LF/HF ratio and an increase in HF. The skin temperature of the nonimmersed medius significantly decreased when the contralateral hand was immersed, from 34.4 °C to 31.8 °C.
conclusionsStimulation of two different ear points innervated by the same afferent nerves elicited different HRV responses, suggesting somatotopy and a vagal effect beyond vagal afferences. These results are not in accordance with the claims of TMP.
trial registrationNCT04130893 (18/10/2019) clinicaltrials.com.
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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.