Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41485475›Full record

Trial reportAnxiety, stress, and coping2026

The effects of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on romantic couples' physiology and behavior during conflict.

Yoobin Park, Darwin A Guevarra, Julia O'Bryan, Wendy Berry Mendes

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Anxiety, stress, and coping, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Yoobin ParkDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2796-3523
Darwin A GuevarraDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-5093-355X
Julia O'BryanDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5870-0083
Wendy Berry MendesDepartment of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4453-1201

Funding

Stress, diet quality, and biological aging across the lifespanR24AG048024 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI EPEL, ELISSA S., MENDES, WENDY BERRY · 2014 to 2025
$6.2M
Advancing Psychosocial & Biobehavioral Approaches to Improve Emotional Well-BeingU24AG072699 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI EPEL, ELISSA S., MENDES, WENDY BERRY · 2021 to 2024
$2.8M
NIA NIH HHS R24 AG048024NIA NIH HHS U24 AG072699
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundConflicts with close others and subsequent affective reactions can have long-term consequences for mental and physical health. Building on recent studies using transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) highlighting the role of the vagus nerve in social functioning, we examined if tVNS can modulate the emotional, physiological, and behavioral responses to a romantic conflict.

methodsRomantic couples (

resultsOur results revealed no condition differences in emotional experiences, but individuals receiving tVNS (vs. sham stimulation) experienced greater decreases in RSA during conflict. Further, while RSA reactivity synchrony did not differ between conditions, couples in the tVNS (vs. sham stimulation) condition showed greater behavioral synchrony.

conclusionsThis work provides experimental evidence supporting the role of the vagus nerve in modulating reactions to stressful social interactions, highlighting the potential of tVNS to subtly influence couple dynamics at physiological and behavioral levels.

Indexed as

Conflict, PsychologicalTranscutaneous Electric Nerve StimulationVagus Nerve StimulationAdultEmotionsFemaleHumansInterpersonal RelationsMaleRespiratory Sinus ArrhythmiaYoung Adultcardiac vagal reactivityrelationship functioningrelationship well-beingvagal flexibilityVagus nerve

Identifiers

PMID41485475
PMCPMC13255263

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Registered trials

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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.