Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41549029›Full record

Trial reportNeurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics2026

Home-based transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) improves motor and non-motor symptoms by improving autonomic and brain functions in patients with Parkinson's disease: A randomized clinical trial.

Rui Wang, Miaomiao Liu, Quanyuan Liu, Yifei You, Xu Li, Yan Chen, Yuwei Liu, Jing Wang, Man Wang, Xianzhi Wang and 4 more

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

Trial report in Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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

14 authors.

Rui WangDepartment of Neurology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, Shandong, China.
Miaomiao LiuSchool of Medical Imaging, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, Shandong, China.
Quanyuan LiuDepartment of Radiology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, Shandong, China.
Yifei YouDepartment of Neurology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, Shandong, China.
Xu LiSchool of Medical Imaging, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, Shandong, China.
Yan ChenDepartment of Gastroenterology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, China. Electronic address: Chenyanfeihong0906@163.com.
Yuwei LiuSchool of Medical Imaging, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, Shandong, China.
Jing WangDepartment of Radiology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, Shandong, China.
Man WangDepartment of Neurology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, Shandong, China.
Xianzhi WangDepartment of Neurology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, Shandong, China.
Zhijie YinDepartment of Radiology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, Shandong, China.
Jiande Dz ChenDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Electronic address: jiandedzchen@gmail.com.
Xianglin LiSchool of Medical Imaging, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, Shandong, China. Electronic address: xlli@bzmc.edu.cn.
Hongcai WangDepartment of Neurology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, Shandong, China. Electronic address: whc2891@bzmc.edu.cn.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Home-based transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) holds therapeutic potential for neurological disorders, yet its application in Parkinson's disease (PD) remains underexplored. In this single-blinded, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial, PD patients received either home-based taVNS with specific stimulation parameters or sham stimulation for three weeks. TaVNS significantly improved motor symptoms, reflected as reduced MDS-UPDRS Ⅲ scores, and alleviated non-motor symptoms including quality of life and sleep disturbances compared with sham stimulation. Neuroimaging revealed that taVNS decreased glutamate levels in the striatum and thalamus, increased Regional Homogeneity values in the rolandic operculum, and enhanced fractional anisotropy in the left hippocampal cingulum and right inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Serum acetylcholine levels were elevated following taVNS and correlated with motor improvement. No serious adverse events occurred. These findings suggest that taVNS with specific parameters effectively alleviates motor and non-motor symptoms in PD, possibly through modulation of brain networks and vagal activity.

trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR230007082.

Indexed as

BrainParkinson DiseaseTranscutaneous Electric Nerve StimulationVagus Nerve StimulationAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSingle-Blind MethodTreatment OutcomeAcetylcholineDiffusion tensor imagingParkinson's diseaseTranscutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation

Identifiers

PMID41549029
PMCPMC12976552

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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.