ArticleEuropean archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery2025
Improved olfactory function following high-frequency transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation in post-COVID-19 patients with olfactory dysfunction.
Article in European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation at Olfactory Bulb-Relevant Frequencies Modulates Human Olfactory Function.Psychophysiology · 2026Article
- Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Post-COVID-19 Condition: A Systematic Review and Critical Appraisal of Clinical Evidence.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Comment on "Improved olfactory function following high-frequency transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation in post-COVID-19 patients with olfactory dysfunction".European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2026Article
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation: mechanisms, applications, and research progress.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
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Abstract
purposePrevious studies in healthy individuals showed that high-frequency but not the low frequency non-invasive vagal nerve stimulation improves olfactory function in healthy individuals. The present study aimed to analyze the potential effects of non-invasive, high-frequency transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation (TA-VNS) on olfactory function in patients with olfactory dysfunction (OD) and healthy individuals.
methodsPatients with post-COVID-19 associated OD (n = 10) and normosmic individuals (n = 30) performed olfactory testing (Sniffin` Sticks), trigeminal testing (lateralization test), attentional tests (d2 test), ratings of odor intensity and pleasantness before and after receiving a TA-VNS for 10 min. Patients with OD received only TA-VNS while normosmic subjects underwent, in addition to TA-VNS, placebo stimulation (control condition) with electrode placement of TA-VNS, and active-control transcutaneous stimulation at the forearm in a randomized order with a minimum 24-h interval between sessions.
resultsIn patients with OD intensity ratings for fish and pleasantness ratings for eucalyptol increased and olfactory discrimination improved (p = 0.017) as opposed to olfactory threshold (p = 0.18). For both, patients with OD and healthy individuals results of the d2 attention test improved following the TA-VNS. In healthy individuals, there were no differences in olfactory discrimination nor threshold regarding the 3 stimulation modalities (TA-VNS, placebo (control condition), transcutaneous stimulation).
conclusionThese results seem to underline the functional connection of the olfactory system with the afferent vagus network. However, a ceiling effect for olfactory discrimination did not allow to observe a possible improvement in normosmic individuals. Further studies in patients with OD are needed to characterize this potential therapeutic effect of TA-VNS.
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